其实只是pre-term的final, 但还是紧张了两天。很有做回学生的感觉--连续几天都是不是去图书馆，就是去图书馆的路上，最多绕道买杯咖啡。

朝夕相处的图书馆啊~

 

窗户外面就是森林，看累了对WTO的分析, 可以看看大树~

上周四晚上的一段对话:

嘟爸在填一些"苛捐杂税" (在Durham County, 除了买车要交税，开车居然也要交税)， 问我"今天几号？"

我在搞指甲，心不在焉地应付着: "自己看手表不就行了"

结果找了一圈发现他的手表在我胳臂上. 好吧，勉为其难看一下，"8/28号"，接着继续挑我的指甲颜色。

5秒钟以后，我们都觉得8/28号这个日子有些奇怪，怎么那么耳熟。

再过了5秒钟，哦，原来是我们的: 结-婚-记-念-日。卖糕的！这个时候已经是晚上11点多了，差点今年又忘了！然后我们就开始算，结婚到底几年了，太久了，已经搞不清楚。没办法，两个理工科背景的在一起，就是这么不浪漫。要是复旦中文系的，早就玫瑰、tiffany了。

不过还算好，今年比去年、比去年的去年有进步，总算在当天记起来了。看来纳税也有纳税的好处，呵呵。找出来N久之前的照片，我的盛大婚礼啊~

   

怀旧情绪正浓，打开电视正好又在重播Sex and the City, 就好像小时候每个暑假看红楼梦，百看不厌。

好了，往前看，SATC已经结束，现在是Gossip Girl当道，下个礼拜第二季就开始。这也是我为final奋斗的动力之一。我们家的电视台居然也有，太好了。还有同学组织了Gossip Girl Return Party, 可惜我要去Beach, 赶不上。

 

无聊,laptop还在connect duke的无线网络中. 没有网络,什么都干不了.贴一张最近拍得标准大头照.

还有一张是6月份刚到的时候买家具的照片。头一回也是仅有的一回从二年级那里买旧家具。那时候幸福啊，没有reading, 没有cold call, 没有final...

没有时间shopping, 网上订的一双鞋，很大的deal. 去年就看中一双steve maiden的类似款，一直没舍得买。这种bootie, 不管今年还火不火，依旧很喜欢。搭配裙子、裤子都可以。秋天到了，冬天还远吗？

开始team meeting了~

 

Durham是Duke所在城市，属于RTP(Research Triangle Park)的一部分吧。Durham最有名的估计就是Duke University和tobacco history. "Day in Durham"是学校近几年开始的一项活动，主题是social contribution+business environment+Durham city development.

其实Durham不算最安全的城市，和美国很多城市一样downtown尤其不安全。所以除了偶尔去吃个饭，一般都不去downtown. 也因为这个，今天的Day in Durham活动，我选了Trip C-Revitalizing Downtown Durham. 想趁此机会多了解一些Durham--这个要生活两年的小城。

今天的活动先是主办方的一些介绍，然后邀请的guest speaker是Bill--Director of Social Investment of Lenovo. Bill 很风趣，短短40分钟讲了很多故事，关于自己成长经历的、关于leveno的、关于developing country entrepreneurship的。听一个老外将lenovo的发展、lenovo对CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)的重视、lenovo对social contribution的commitment (by 2010 sponsor 100,000entreprenurships and 1% of profit to social contribution), 作为中国人，还是感到分外骄傲。尽管媒体各界有很多关于lenovo并购IBM PC的质疑、很多关于联想“技工贸”还是“贸工技”战略讨论，但是站在美国MBA讲台上代表lenovo的bill, 至少还是从某一方面肯定了lenovo的全球战略。试想国内有多少企业能有这样的机会走上这样的讲台？

接着是panel discussion和实地考察。

Duke Corporate Education在downtown的office

这个老头是负责downtown建设的一位吧，对Durham如数家珍，听他讲durham发展的蓝图，如此的自豪和胸有成竹。一路上就好像在指点江山，"这块区域我们准备建高级住宅社区" , "这里会是新的火车站"，等等等等。

Downtown掠影

 

 

 

 

虽然我们是在Durham这个小城，但是"心系全球"--我们有Around the Globe Dinner. 这个是去年开始的活动。在一届学生里面征集志愿者(最好是international student), 然后在自己家里面host一个本国cuisine的dinner, 基本上是一个host负责8个人左右的dinner. 学校出钱。主要目的还是了解各国文化和social. 我被安排到去秘鲁同学家做客。还是第一次吃秘鲁菜。可以说整个晚餐气氛很好、只是秘鲁菜--还真不怎么样，尽管host已经非常努力的拿出妈妈的秘传menu, 不过可能是亚洲美食把咱们的味蕾都宠坏了。Anyway, 重点不在吃，况且还有饭后的冰激凌垫底。

 

 

 

对了，今天还带嘟嘟去了一家可以做Teddy Bear的玩具店。里面可以挑小熊的样子、选衣服、各种配饰等等，每个小熊还有自己的名字和出生证。我们后来选了一个最为礼物送给一个dudu的小姐姐。

查了一下网站是: http://www.buildabear.com/. 国内还没有这家店。贴点网上现成做好的小熊照片。感觉比芭比可爱。

 

 

 

 

 

今天刚刚有一个算作mid-term的quiz完、晚上10点多到家，明天的课又是中午，所以可以小喘一口。不过，今天回家也不容易，遇到暴雨，一路上是:

漆黑+没路灯+暴雨+高速

不过再怎么样也比不上嘟爸上周末回家路的艰辛:

-周四下班online check 飞机状态正常，开到机场，check-in结束，被告知当天该航班全部取消

-只好改机票、重新订酒店、租车、周五在无人的客户办公室上班(他们所有consultant周五都是remote工作)

-周五下班依然航班正常，到机场，check-in, 起飞前又announce所有航班取消

-已近疯狂的嘟爸只好再定周六的机票，最早只能买到下午四点的，于是又是重订酒店、租车

-周六清晨5点嘟爸就赶到机场，准备standby早一些的班次，无奈6点的没空位、7点也没有、10点也没有、下午1点的仍旧没有希望

-嘟爸只能认命的在机场苦等近十个小时，总算坐上回家的飞机

 

回家的路想到了很老的一首歌，现在听还是很好啊

 

在美国坐飞机和搭出租车差不多，特别是这种两个小时的短途，没人把你当回事。想想东航误机了还发点吃的、得过夜还解决酒店，该知足了~

嘟爸不在正好锻炼了我，这个礼拜的grocery是我负责采购。可惜我不是合格的price comparator. 要我说哪里买EL最便宜我还知道，但哪里买有机牛奶最划算？--好像都差不多。

带着儿子逛超市:

***************************************

最近的课依旧很有意思，Global Institute讨论free trade, 小到分析单双牌照隔天上路的问题，大到讨论京都协议是否合理、交易二氧化碳排放许可与直接征税哪个更好。 偷笑一下关于单双牌照的政策在家里和嘟爸已经无比激烈的争论过，碍于世界和平没有分出胜负。我当然也把嘟爸的意见带到了课堂。但是，出乎意料而又是意料之中的是同学、老师buy-in的都和我的观点相同。当场课间休息就无比兴奋的报告战果。看来，MBA的思路是要培养的。

Leadership的课上次讨论的是Motivation & Incentive, 这个拿手了，熟悉的topic. 今天讨论Ethics, 关于consulting、audit firm unconscious bias的讨论很有意思。我不晓得如果我是case中的人物我会怎么做？因为毕竟说的容易做起来难。如果只是讲大道理，不用上MBA, 上个什么政治学习就可以了。

****************************************

哦，还有。这个礼拜去造房子了。原来打死都不会相信我还能造房子，从小到大连手工课都是别人代劳的。这周我们有个Community Work 就是帮助当地的一些组织造房子，然后这些组织又会以很低的价格或者贷款利率出售给需要的人。尽管我依然对如何定义"需要的人"有些想法、也更愿意花时间去帮助老人、小孩、残疾人或者保护环境，而不是已经有工作能贷款买房的当地居民，但是anyway, 造房子的经历还是很有趣。

我钉下的第一根钉子(红圈是我加上去的:

这些属于高级工作

这些纯粹属于摆pose:

   

有兴趣的可以看这个当天video:

 

来这里念书，就已经准备好用开放的心态接受不同的文化。在orientation上有一次Mark让international student起立，结果站起一大片。这还正常，但是Mark接着说，其实所有学生都应该起来。因为来duke, 大家就是在一个international的环境中，每个人都是国际生。Duke的国际生比例今年有40%, 所以国际生几乎不是minority了。一般B-school的这个比例维持在30%左右。别小看Duke这高出的10%, 其实体会下来会差很多。

还有其他意想不到的。

昨天正式上课前，两位一向严厉的professor郑重向全班道歉。为什么？因为前天晚上来的speaker(某大家都晓得的软件公司VP), 同学们反映效果不好。Speaker应该的topic是围绕知识产权在软件行业，但显然一开始就岔开了很多话题，Q&A部分又有些不知所云。Professor很坦白，尽管也是花了efforts和speaker事先确定topic, 但既然speaker的现场表现一致公认的unqualified, professor 表示同意同学的反馈，并感谢提出意见的同学。同时,　professor一再表明这不代表Fuqua B-School的一向speaker quality. 感谢大家的professionalism，坚持听完了完全程并现场提出许多well prepared的问题. Professor表示已经involve了Dean和speaker本人来共同协商解决方案。(该speaker去年也做过演讲，但是质量高很多).

其实professor并不是必须如此隆重的向我们道歉。相信所有同学听过的比这个差许多倍的speech多了去了。但整个事件过程又让我们感到了Open, Fair和Be Valued. 联想早先的作弊事件，从一个角度看是某些学生integrity或不同文化对诚信尺度把握得差异, 从另一个角度看---又是学校严谨、自律、公开的治学方针的另一表现。作弊事件后，Duke去年和今年的yield rate都是不降反升，可能同时也可以证明学校择人及被offer的学生价值观和学校的匹配。今天课上正好讨论Extrinsic Motivation & Intrinsic Motivation. 想来学校一定是用culture、real-life behavior来影响我们.

另一个震撼我的是前两天学到的MFI (Micro-Finance Institute). 我因为不是金融背景，惭愧的还是第一次深刻接触MFI. 因为在加州的经历加上后来的一些了解，确实对non-profit和CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)很感兴趣。Wiki对MFI的定义，比较通俗易懂:

Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services to poor or low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed.[1] The term also refers to the practice of sustainably delivering those services.

More broadly, it refers to a movement that envisions “a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers.”[2]

Case主要是关于MＦＩ在非洲的实例，我们正好又有同学在MFI工作过或着在MFI donate过，加上我们team两个NPO背景的team member, 这下学的深刻了。

关于MFI的一个video, 个人觉得对了解MFI很有帮助

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/uganda601/uganda-601.html

现在每学习到新东西，很容易联想到在中国国内发展如何，顺便了解了一下。

原来国内已经有一些NGO的MFI:

Name	Country	Type	Gross Loan in US ($)	Active Borrowers
ARDPAS	China	Non-Profit (NGO)	1,104,509	2,049
CFPA	China	Non-Profit (NGO)	9,587,797	24,735
CZWSDA	China	Non-Profit (NGO)	1,043,554	3,128
OI China	China	Non-Profit (NGO)	944,451	318
PATRA Hunchun	China	Non-Profit (NGO)	373,566	961

但是值得指出的是，用同样的criteria在MFI相关网站上搜索，中国只有6家，而印度竟有103家！

Wharton两年前对Microfinance在中国的研究，看了很让人寒心。不知道两年后的现状怎么样。和教授也讨论过，政治、法律、文化体系的差异，至少从教授的口中现状也不乐观。

文章很长，奥运以后，除了简单的抵制X货，还有什么我们真正长远能为母亲祖国做的？

Microfinance in China: Growth and Struggle

Published: May 10, 2006 in Knowledge@Wharton

Microfinance in China is poised for a significant expansion as the government, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and commercial banks begin to explore ways to provide the country's most impoverished people with greater access to credit.

According to Bai Chengyu, secretary general of the China Association of Microfinance, after 10 years of development, microcredit has entered a transition phase and is now moving "from experiment to large-scale commercial development."

Microcredit has a long history in Asia, dating back to 1976 when the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh began providing small loans primarily to women in small groups, a segment of society too poor to qualify for credit from the banks. It started in China in the mid-1990s, when the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank began promoting the concept in cooperation with Chinese organizations.

Microfinance may include several types of financial services, including deposit taking and insurance, while microcredit normally refers to small loans of between 1,000 yuan and 3,000 yuan ($125-$375). The terms are often used interchangeably in the media.

Many are hoping that microfinance can give a boost to rural China, which today faces enormous problems. Some 30 million "relatively" poor people survive on less than one dollar a day, and another 30 million people live in "absolute poverty" of less than 25 cents a day. The vast majority of these are in the countryside, where there is a huge gap in living conditions and public services, such as medical care and education, compared to urban areas.

A World Bank report last October argued that there was a strong link between weak access to credit and low incomes. People involved in microfinance say that a small loan of $100 to buy animals or seeds for planting can make a major difference for a poor family, and a series of loans within a community can transform it.

Low Sustainability

But despite its successes, the microfinance sector is facing problems in China. "Although the payment rate is very high in some microfinance institutions (MFIs), most are not running efficiently," says Bai. Nor is this trend unique to China. According to the United Nations Capital Development Fund, just 1% of MFIs around the world are financially stable, and China is no different. Sarah Tsien, a consultant with IPC, an affiliate of ProCredit in Germany, puts it more strongly: "Microfinance has been quite a disaster in China. Overall, it never achieved a scale of sustainability."

One such example is the Tianjin Women's Federation, whose program seemed to get off to a good start, only to later stagnate. "Tianjin is a big city but the Federation reached less than 2,000 clients after more than seven years," says one analyst. "It should have been 30,000."

Bai says the major bottleneck to the commercialization of microlending is the lack of policies to encourage involvement by commercial financial institutions, the failure to open the financial market to the private sector, artificially low interest rates and the lack of a legal environment. Experts agree that the future of microcredit and microfinance requires strong cooperation between banks that can provide capital and grassroots organizations that reach down to the village level where China's poorest people live.

ProCredit, an NGO which has 19 banks around the world involved in microfinancing, believes the sector needs to be more professional. "When it comes to providing financial services, you need to have people who know how to take a commercial approach and who know how to be bankers," says Tsien.

But despite claimed low default rates and potentially high yields, commercial banks are not yet convinced that there's money to be made in this sector. The main problem is that borrowers are often located in far flung parts of the country, which means sending loan officers into remote areas to consider credit for people often asking for only about $120. And if the bankers grant the loan, they have to find a way to disburse the funds and then secure repayment.

Microfinance organizations say that interest rates must be raised to make lending more feasible. Most MFIs are currently charging rates that are only slightly higher than commercial banks, albeit much lower than loan sharks, who charge a hefty 3% monthly interest. Kong Xiangyi, a professor at the Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, told Reuters in April that peasants turn to illegal lenders for 50% or more of their borrowing needs.

The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), a Chinese government-affiliated NGO which charges in a range of 7% to 9%, a bit higher than the Rural Credit Cooperative (RCC), says it plans to raise its rates in the near future to the higher end of the scale. The trick is to charge a rate that is high enough to make lending efficient, but not so high that it excludes the poor.

Li Qi, a program officer in the microfinance department of CFPA, says the market can bear the higher rates. CFPA's clients, she notes, are different than RCC's. "The better clients apply for RCC loans, which are more favorable." While her organization normally requires payment on a monthly basis, the RCC has more long-term repayment schemes. "Our clients are poor and have no choice," Li notes. "Before getting money from us, they had to go to money lenders, and the interest rate was quite high."

More Private Sector Involvement

While ProCredit actually runs banks in 19 different countries, restrictions don't allow this in China, and so the organization is focusing on consulting, as well as encouraging the City Commercial Bank system to get involved in microfinance. PlaNet Finance, an NGO, is providing training in accounting, loan management and risk analysis.

The World Bank report also pointed to this new trend. "While most microfinance programs have been funded by governments and donors, efforts are now shifting to fostering commercial microfinance institutions," the report said. "Improving the environment for microfinance can also extend more credit to the rural poor."

NGOs, including PlaNet Finance, ProCredit and CPAF, are making an effort to increase private sector activity. "Why did we get involved in this in the first place?" asks Gabrielle Harris, executive director of PlaNet Finance China. "It's because the banks were not willing to lend to people without collateral, and poor people in rural areas had no access to credit." To get city commercial banks and rural credit cooperatives involved, organizations like PlaNet Finance will have to first build up trust and convince banks that microfinance is a legitimate business with worthwhile returns. "It's not going to happen at the emotional level," she says, adding that her job is to convince local banks that NGOs have a good track record and that there is a potential for good partnerships.

As Chinese regulations keep foreign banks out of direct involvement in the microfinance market, ProCredit is trying to set up relationships with the City Commercial Banks -- part of China's old urban credit collectives which, a few years ago, were reorganized into city commercial banks and now exist in some 30 cities -- to build up microfinancing services. It has done this in 10 other countries.

Tsien says that with bankers reluctant to travel into the countryside to approve and disburse loans, which would entail high transportation and communication costs, ProCredit plans to first focus on cities, later spreading into rural areas. Loans will be higher than the norm in microcredit, running between 5,000 to 10,000 yuan ($625-$1,250). Her job will be convincing local banks to jump into the microfinance market, when many may not be interested. ProCredit will choose an initial 12 out of 130 City Commercial Banks to cooperate with. "We are trying to retrain loan officers to go out with a calculator and figure out what a micro-entrepreneur can pay, and to put less emphasis on the role of collateral." Experience around the world shows that collateral isn't necessary, she says, conceding, however, that the argument "will make bankers nervous."

The Grameen Bank Example

People involved in microcredit argue that the repayment rates are high, and even better than those of major world banks in wealthy countries. They attribute this to the model borrowed from Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Grameen's borrowers were very poor, with incomes of less than $1 per day. As there was no collateral, and obviously no credit history in the beginning, borrowers were set up in groups that had to monitor one another, and apply soft, or peer, pressure to guarantee that loans were repaid. As loans were paid back, borrowers could qualify for bigger loans, which was an added incentive.

The CFPA has successfully adopted the Bangladesh model, according to Li, who claims about a one percentage point of bad loans and an overdue rate of 1.79 for all its areas. A loan is considered overdue when it's one day late, and a loan that is not paid for one year is considered a bad debt. Borrowers are members of guaranty groups made up of five to seven individuals, and if one member of the group cannot pay, the others will have to make the payment for him or her. "It's a kind of peer pressure," she says. "The client will say, 'If I'm overdue, the whole village will know.'"

Financial experts express doubts about the statistics concerning bad loans, arguing that current lenders are primarily governments, NGOs and philanthropists who may be slow to declare a loan as unretrievable.

Most loans are also directed to women, who are seen as a better risk than men. CFPA says 40% of its existing loans have gone to women, and that new projects will focus primarily on them. "It's because women are more reliable," says Li. "They manage money very well and they seldom go out to do migrant work or gamble or drink. And [getting a loan] can change their position in the family and empower them."

Enter Citigroup, HSBC and Others

Local commercial and rural banks may soon find themselves being nudged into the sector as competition builds up around China. There are examples of success in other countries to follow. After BRI, an ailing state rural lender in Indonesia, flopped in 1984, it was changed into a bank for the poor, providing loans and also government-backed savings programs with no minimum deposit. Today it has some 30 million savings accounts. More interesting, some of the world's biggest lenders are also getting involved, including ABN Amro, HSBC, ING and Citigroup. Citigroup gave $1.3 million to Grameen USA/Trust between 2001 and 2003 to support microfinance programs in China for 25,000 impoverished families.

Robert Annibale, global director for Citigroup Microfinance, says he's been impressed by the credit performance, profitability and depth of client outreach to under-served communities that MFIs have demonstrated. "The challenge is to manage costs for relatively high volume, small notional size loans," he says. "However, there are models and institutions that make such a proposition commercially attractive and scalable."

Annibale points to the example of other countries, where cooperatives, credit unions and post office banks have led the way in microfinance. "China will no doubt find its own path," he says, "but there is a diverse history of very sustainable and even profitable microloan portfolios, particularly in Asia and Latin America."

With rural conditions becoming a major concern, some observers are hoping that the government will pay more attention to the problem of alleviating poverty via microfinance. The head of one Western NGO involved in microfinancing described rural areas as "untenable," adding that she felt rural citizens had been "abandoned" by the government. She said, however, that she felt that the Hu Jintao government was committed to doing something to improve the situation in the countryside.

Indeed, the government is already taking steps to promote the use of microfinance. Chen Yuan, governor general of the China Development Bank (CDB), has said that he would like to have microfinance available in every province of China -- through the CDB -- by 2010. "The government is trying to reduce the poverty level" says Li, "and it thinks that microfinance is a good way to help."

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) recently launched a special policy research team to study the development of microfinance. The government has also allocated funds to absorb some of the risk in lending to poor people, aimed at encouraging participation by financial institutions. Furthermore, the government says it is reducing its own role, hoping to make the sector more market oriented. Finally, at the end of last year, pilot projects were launched in five provinces allowing financing by private businesses.

Training Courses for MFIs

The private sector and NGOs are now focusing on hardware to improve the efficiency of microcredit. The Citigroup Foundation-funded China Microfinance Training Center has provided training courses for MFIs in China. It has also given a $1.5 million grant to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to provide training and better support services for China's microfinance sector. The training center will train more than 1,000 management and staff from MFIs by the year 2009. The courses will include microfinance product development, marketing, risk management and internal control, operations and financial management.

Beginning in September 2005, CFPA, which gets capital from the government and from donors, took advantage of a reform of the regulations governing NGOs to turn its grassroots MFIs into legal CFPA branches, making them directly responsible to the headquarters in Beijing. It currently has five microfinance branches, a lending fund of 20 million yuan, and more than 15,000 active clients. And two new counties will soon be added, one in Hubei and one in Hebei provinces. The organization is hoping to streamline its own operations and raise interest rates to a level that will make it possible to become sustainable through revenue.

If the government, banks, MFIs and NGOs can begin to work together, microcredit could have a major impact on poverty in China's rural areas. This growing interest in the sector was highlighted in March, when the Asia Microfinance Forum was held in Beijing, attracting more than 280 participants from more than 20 countries, including representatives from MFIs, central banks, commercial banks and even the private sector. The forum focused on how these various agencies could form partnerships to improve the environment for microfinance.

The four-day forum, co-sponsored by the Citigroup Foundation, showcased several good examples of how microfinance is changing impoverished areas. For example, in the Philippines, a telecom company turned mobile phones into electronic wallets that enable low income Filipinos to handle remittances, deposits, loan payments, bill payments and other financial transactions through simple text messaging. Another project introduced to participants was the Hatton National Bank in Sri Lanka, which formed a partnership with the postal service so that post offices could offer electronic banking services for microfinance customers in far-flung areas.

The forum also sought to make participants aware of the various strengths that each brings to the table. It was emphasized that NGOs had to conduct microfinance operations on a more commercial basis, and that commercial banks needed to understand the expertise that MFIs have in reaching impoverished people in both inner-city slums and rural areas.

 

今天总算可以小歇一下, 就上午有课和晚上的一个讲座

明天又是team culture的一个活动，没有什么reading

感觉一下子轻松很多

 

本来还没意识到明天没有课

只是觉得快burning out了，就抽空去图书馆借了DVD, 想轻松一下

正好和Demi聊到，她也有看电影的冲动

区别是人家晓得明天没课，是有计划的放松

我是不晓得明天放假，属于偷懒的冲动

 

总结一下最近为什么已经忙起来了

语言还是很大的障碍

本来觉得自己的英文国内还混得过去

但是当要和domestic学生:

在三层楼的绳索上讨论策略谁先支撑谁先挪哪条腿放哪条绳子谁先到目的地的时候

在team room讨论知识产权造成非洲国家人民无法得到艾滋病药物治疗的时候

在餐桌上讨论某南美国家主食主要是什么原材料怎么个做法的时候

严重感觉到瓶颈在思维到语言的转化

 

常常经受了一天西语的轰炸

有强烈的说中文的冲动

还好回家有老人聊天

再不济，也有嘟嘟可以吱芝呀呀

 

很喜欢Orientation里的两门课:

GIE: Global Institutions and Environments, 会涉及各个国家的一些institution, 并且偏重在商业环境下。比如我们讨论Botswana的钻石产业(还是第一次接触这个平均GDP增长全球最快的非洲小国， 第二名就是中国); 我们讨论corporate governance, 本来一直没有弄清dual class control的实质，老师上课一点泼才豁然开朗。这周我们focus在知识产权，并且从制药行业这个高利润高patent focus的行业入手。在讨论AIDS药物在非洲的availability的时候，我和小组的讨论还有点分歧。因为我们有两名组员是social entrepreneurship背景，在印度和卢旺达做过non-profit, 而我的standpoint更从business的角度入手。我主张利用全球力量帮助当地发展经济和教育来长期治理AIDS问题，而有组员建议更实际并立马可行的compromise intellectual property 或者price differentiation策略。Anyway, 这样的diversification正是我们在商学院追求的。昨天看了老半天pharmaceutical business in developing countries, 很有冲动去非洲实地看看解释自己的很多疑惑，被嘟爸毅然阻止--还是很危险的！明年的international trip, 打算去迪拜，不知道能不能排上.

LEO: Leadership and Ethics in Organization, 这门课的阅读量没有GIE大，但安排了很多business game和diagnostic survey. Professor每次上课都是以小故事开头，充分贯彻sticky原则。那个经典的BP和Shell定价游戏，引发很多关于商业规则、诚信、利润最大化的讨论。又要检讨一下自己，可能是文化的局限性，总是以"人之初、性本恶"入手，一开始主张降价策论。幸好被组员说服。可惜我们最后还是被对方team摆了一刀，不过我们坚守了自己的trust承诺，如果这个游戏再开始，我们会是long-term的赢家。

周五参加了triangle training, 类似国内的拓展，可能强度更大一些。至今双臂处于残废状态。不过在那三层楼高的绳子上建立的信任，应该可以维持很久吧 ;-)

老外就是厉害，一个下午的户外活动以后还决定去bowling. 好吧，我除了第一次、第二次超常发挥一下，接着一路正常的超臭水平。

 

我们team的adam, 是玩吊娃娃游戏的狂人，战利品自然送给了我，哈哈。

周末的时间当然不能全部牺牲给case. 有朋自纽约来，southpoint吃饭、聊天、享受冰激凌、当然还有shopping. 其实有三个女生，报料摄影师因为没有化妆，不原意入镜。哎，女人啊~

游泳技能我和嘟嘟都有了巨大飞跃。我可以连续游20米并且来回了，并且昨天速度终于达到嘟爸的一半。而嘟嘟已经从一个半月前的怕水到如今坚持要自个儿在那里360度的打转。

 

最后再贴点这个月的嘟嘟, 这小子表情丰富的都不知道是我逗他还是他逗我了

 

上课去了，今天5点起来做了西门子的case, 现在居然一点不困~

 

刚刚看到Business Week上的一篇报道，

Patricia Russo离开Alcatel-Lucent, Diane Greene离开VMware, Meg Whitman离开E-bay, 再早之前Carly Fioina与HP, Carol Barts和Autodesk.

似乎每位女CEO的离开，都会迎来一片评论声，而且，往往，说话的是在一边早已准备看笑话的男性 (还好这篇BW的报道是female reporter). 记得刚看到Ms. Russo的消息时曾经和几位Lucent的朋友聊过insider feelings, Ms Whitman半年多前还是我essay的topic, 在上海我曾经到处找Carly的自传(盗版和不知名的翻版到处都是)...

似乎有些激进、有些女权，很早就参加Forte Forum和各种women symposium, 作为woman, 再加上是需要赚钱并且还有那么一点追求的woman, 平凡如我就已经感同身受multi-role对woman的压力，很何况是那些商场经营女性。

工作、读书、家庭、朋友、爱好，甚至护肤、养生、服饰...虽然可以说这些都是我们的选择，但其实社会无形期望于我们更多:

- 妈妈被期望每天参与宝宝的成长，而对爸爸的要求，可能只是周末下午的一场球赛

- 妻子被期望维护家庭的和谐，多于家庭成员沟通，而对丈夫的要求，可能只是每周一次的家庭聚餐

- 因为这个商场７０％还是男性主导，所以女性被期望不仅能通晓商业知识、社会大局，还需要能贯通时尚、旅游、足球、红酒等等话题

 

好像有些抱怨身为女性，其实我很享受现在的生活，因为每一刻都很充实，每一天都在学习新东西、认识新朋友...

只是些许被这篇报道影响。　

Never cry for being a woman, Enjoy everyday~

 

贴一张不错的SJP, 普通的衣服，很好的搭配，关键--气质要出众。

 

 

现在Orientation, 每天才3个小时的课，有时加上一些实践活动。课虽不多，但是assignment无数，而且花样百出。有team case write-up, individual case question, 看article, 多媒体case, 等等等等。

LEO (Leadership and Ethics in Organizations)的第一个case我偷懒了，case只看了五分之一，结果professor tough无比，连domestic students都是倒抽一口气。本来举手想和professor聊聊leadership里的innovation, 没想到Ashleigh突然转到下一个问题。可怜我根本没有念到那部分。幸亏问题是关于CEO怎么绕过CFO, COO什么的enforcement, 只能凭常识糊诹。下次，一定，做个好学生，念-完-该-念-的！

其实没有看case也是有原因的，因为去了section的BBQ party, 在Loft, 一个很不错的apartment complex. Loft和我的新朋友，每天都能认识新朋友，真好！

本来想想算了，networking和study总归要balance, 没想到和我同去BBQ的Adam告诉我，他回到家，看case看到凌晨4点。好吧，原来需要这样balance的~

我们2010运气不错，学校新的图书馆，沙发很舒服 (可怜家里还没有沙发)、风景很好。

 

好土的标题，体谅现在已经是凌晨一点，而且是连续几个凌晨一点后的凌晨，并且可以预见未来还有很多个凌晨。突然想起以前老板的一句名言, 中文意思差不多是"这不是起点，也不是终点，甚至不是终点的起点...", 胡言乱语了，短路了...

MBA的主要任务就是一手抓学习、一手抓玩乐，或者换个说法，一手抓前程、一手抓交际。当然，为了寓教于乐，现在还是orientation, 以娱乐为主;-)

Section Olympics

重在参与，一声声呐喊中挥霍我们满腔的热情，为了我们从地球各个角落而来的section member们.

 

80's Party

据说是Orientation的传统节目，Party Queen早就和我提过。可惜稀里糊涂的我一直没有搞清楚其重要性。本来想在家带孩子的，后来居然我们session没有人不去一岗。算了，不就是扮演80年代嘛，装土扮嫩就可以: 头箍+白衬衣+牛仔裙+红色粗高跟+VM土星项链+铆钉皮带，全部废物利用，还蛮80吧　(嘟爸估计已经在纽约的酒店吐了)

(全部红眼照，实在没有时间PS了)

 

 

Team Hand-out

增强团队凝聚力的最佳方法是什么？古今中外一样，就是吃！今天正好还碰上球赛，停车叫一个难啊！

 

另一手--学习，今天太晚了，明天继续～

 

Duke Fuqua 2010 Orientation 开始了两天，这两天经历的要记录下来的东西实在太多。原本以为很多对MBA的描述都有些夸张渲染，经历了才知道，It's Really True!

第一天早上当400多人在Auditorium第一次集合，伴着那些激动人心的音乐、video, 仿佛又回到刚开始工作时的激动--并且因为有了那么多年的工作经验不再是什么都不懂的初出茅庐、不再是除了热情什么都没有的黄毛丫头、不再是什么都想要什么都要赢得鲁莽新人--这一次的震撼远远超出7年前。

My new friend-- Beauty Anna

迎接我们2010的首先是两位ladies: 1) Associate Dean of Admissions--是她把我们所有人recruit近来 2) Associate Dean of Career Service--她会负责把我们所有人都kick out出去, 这个就是MBA的Game Plan. 当然一千个人能有一千种两年MBA的活法: 为了工作、为了networking、为了skill & knowledge、为了party、为了pursuit of love、为了travel... 现实是: 贪婪的MBA们都想尝试这所有一千种活法，无非是每个人为每种活法选一个权数来组成各自100%的时间和精力。而我，就是这贪婪的MBA一分子，并且，还没有确定自己要分配的权数-- we will see~

接下来是我们的Dean, 学生会主席、Corporate Sponsor等等粉墨登场。

整个三天的orientation, 完全是student organize的，由二年级组成的O-Team (Orientation-Team), 穿红色T-shirt的就是他们。

我们今年有４００多人，分成６个session, 每个section又分成１２个team. 我是lucky Double Five: Section 5 & Team 5!.在中国文化里正好凑成十全十美。 我们的section lead是二年级section 5代表: MIT undergraduate、VC summer intern的Amy和western point毕业去年直接从阿富汗到杜克的Dave, both have amazing experiences!

今天有个session是Duke MBA Game, 是Duke Fuqua support Special Olympics的一个initiative. 主要是MBA怎样为Special Olympics作fundraising. 看了一段精彩video后，学校邀请了一名Special Olympics运动员上台讲话。虽然这位speaker因为"special"没有前面公司高层等的演讲能力，但是他的真诚、３１年参与Special Olympics的执著感动了所有人。第一次４００多位同学大家全体自发起立，向这位运动员鼓掌、致敬。

今天下午的"Scavenger Hunter"又是MBA Orientation的传统、精彩、终身难忘项目。每个小组拿到一张task list, 看２个小时内能完成多少task. 做梦都猜不到这些都是什么task, 比如:

- 在一条都没有听说过的river里游泳并且拍照

- 找到president's car并拍照

-Find the mystery Duke tunnel and then demonstrate you are under the tunnel

- 和一家local餐厅的员工拍照

- 某超市的发票

等等等等，数不胜数的匪夷所思的task。当然，每个task都有不同的分值，最后看每个小组的总分。这个活动的关键是:

• 时间、资源有限
• 需要合理选择要完成的task (又是难度、分值、成本的博弈)
• 小组成员大部分都是初次见面，并且有着五湖四海的口音、背景和特长

我们小组最后的成绩是Top 2, 大家都很惊讶我们居然完成了那么多tasks, 又有些遗憾我们离top 1其实很近。Anyway, we have fun during the whole process, which is the most important thing. 看看我们做的crazy的事(我们都是冲这高分值的task去的):

• 找到那条郊外的河，直接跳下去游泳
• 一位男同学shave了一条腿，并保证一条腿shave另一条un-shaved
• 另一位同学将头发剃成传统印第安纳土著造型
• 分别将脸和指甲画成Duke MBA造型
• 我们开车２０分钟找到top of the hill

....

 

最后，我们team第一张合影