OneMBA European Residency: Day Two

If you thought my blog posts were only going to reflect the rosy parts of an international residency in the OneMBA Program, think again!  As I interviewed students (and staff) today, the overwhelming theme was “jet lag.”  The residency officially started Sunday night, and while some students arrived early to travel and/or acclimate to the five hour time difference (traveling East seems to be more difficult on the body than traveling West, particularly in the morning), the ones I happened to catch on camera today all arrived on Sunday.  So, they were tired!  Despite the fatigue, though, all students here were enjoying the day, which was focused on academic studies.  I even caught up with Saskia Treurniet, Director of the OneMBA Program at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (and our official host); Saskia was very happy about the residency thus far.

So, what did the students study today?  This morning, Professor Martin Sutton provided an overview of Europe (yes, that was a tall order!), setting the stage for the remainder of the week.  Then, this afternoon, Mrs. Kimberly Ross, CFO Ahold, provided her reflections on the topic of corporate governance, after which Mr. Anton van Rossum, Director Credit-Suisse Group, presented his reflections on the recent financial crisis and its aftermath.  Finally, Professor Bill Collins from RSM moderated a session focused on the new global teams (students were assigned to new global teams this week).

The students had a free evening to meet with their teams or socialize.  Me?  I made my way to a Mexican restaurant, of all places, with some of my OneMBA colleagues!  Tomorrow is another busy day, so hopefully everyone is resting up tonight.