In the midst of a heavily financial block at Nyenrode, (Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance, International Financial Markets and Supply Chain Optimization), I’m somehow finding the time to reflect on several topics.
Thesis – My final project is progressing smoothly, we partner and I narrowed down our research question this week. After 3 long months of exploratory research we have focused our project into the financial and collaborative models that can be used in Smarter Cities initiatives. As you may have read from several of my posts, I’m a slight geek, and I find Smart Cities to be absolutely fascinating – how can municipalities and local governments can use technology, data and innovation to create value and savings for their citizens. Our final project gives my partner, (a Romanian IT consultant), and myself the opportunity to combine our passions: technology and business. As I may or may not have written previously, finance is not my strongest or preferred business function, so a financial/collaborative thesis will be a major challenge for me – something I look forward to. I didn’t pick Nyenrode because I wanted an easy MBA, I picked Nyenrode because I wanted to push myself as far as I could to learn, grow, and better myself.
MBA – I have essentially two months of lecture left in my MBA program, and then the final 3 months are pure thesis. We are fortunate enough to have a few international trips on our agenda – I will be visiting both China and South Africa in the upcoming 2 months. We visited Brussels last week and spent a few days meeting the European Commission and several lobbyists. As we progress through the second half of the MBA, (already!), the pace is beginning to pick up again, and we’re facing a hectic April. Between lectures, Meet the CEO meetings, the thesis, our innovation projects, presentations and staying on top of the job search, I can guarantee April will be a busy month. But like I said above, Nyenrode isn’t supposed to be easy. And frankly, I wouldn’t want it to be.
Career – The career search has taken a surprising upturn, with several positive discussions. While I’ve made very little progress toward a tangible result, I’ve continued to move forward in identifying companies that would match my interests and passions. Updates to my LinkedIn and Twitter pages have kept me busy on the electronic side, and I’ve also ordered and received my first set of business cards. I will continue to search for the industries, functions, companies and colleagues that I find interesting and appealing – the next steps will include establishing decision criteria, narrowing my list and contacting the firms to begin establishing relationships.
Personal – I’m still finding the time to enjoy my hobbies and passions, thankfully:
- There are a decent number of IMBA’s who participate in some form of routine exercise, from the weekly football game, (soccer to those of you wondering), to near-daily weight lifting to occasional basketball games, so I always have someone to workout with.
- I’ve found a few games on my Mac that I can enjoy in small increments, (Nyenrode is too busy for any sustained sessions), most notably FTL – a phenomenal indie space exploration/combat game, selling now for $5.
- I’m still watching every Arsenal game, (predicting Chelsea/Tottenham collapses to find Arsenal finish in 3rd, Chelsea in 4th), and I’ve become quite addicted to season 3 of The Walking Dead.
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to Skype friends or relatives very often, as the time differences combined with my busy and unpredictable schedule make it nearly impossible – hopefully my time will be a bit more flexible after the transition from lectures to thesis. My final update is that I’ve begun searching for apartments in the Hague, Utrecht, and Rotterdam – possibly for summer, possibly for post-MBA.
Until next time,
Harry Berendsen
Harry Berendsen 