Haven't blogged in a while as I've been fairly busy on quite a few fronts. Schoolwise I've been juggling quite a few balls in the air at the same time. I finally got everything done for the Management of a Software Company course I was on. The course was actually quite interesting and the exercises were very good - although they did take some time as you had to actually look into them before just typing away 15 pages of text. Then there was the Stanford Prison Experiment paper for the Basics of Work Psychology and Leadership. And the plans and preliminary reports for the Multimedia Technology course. And then of course the thesis...
The thesis is actually turning into something of a problem. I have a feeling that my scoping has gone terribly wrong. I decided to embark on a venture to look into the motivators and challenges associated with IT outsourcing and then conclude by looking at how the motivators and challenges change when the outsourcing company is an SME. All nice and smooth, right? Wrong.
I think the scope right now is way too broad and I'm getting swamped with material. Additionally I don't want to touch the scope anymore since that would require even more time more digging for material, and I don't have any extra time. Then there is the completely idiotic requirement that the thesis has to be written in Finnish. Come on! There are like two papers written in Finnish about it and the terminology is in English! How the heck do you translate offshore outsourcing into Finnish in the first place? What about motivator? I mean, this is just plain stupid. I guess I could go on and on and on, but instead I won't. Sufficient to say, I think I'm quite deep in shit right now.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Sometimes...
... I think I like the idea of studying more than the actual studying...
But right now I think I might actually be having an exceptionally strong drive in getting stuff at school done.
But right now I think I might actually be having an exceptionally strong drive in getting stuff at school done.
Friday, February 09, 2007
MSc or... MSc...?
Starting January 1st of 2006, the Finnish polytechnic schools (ammattikorkeakoulu) have been calling themselves Universities of Applied Sciences. Predating that, when the entire ammattikorkeakoulu system was being introduced, many people voiced concerns as to whether or not having an alternate higher education route was needed as there already existed schools which took care of the technician-level of education. But the system was created nonetheless. And now they're at it again; up until now they've technically provided students with Bachelors degrees, but apparently now they're starting to offer Masters level degrees also. Which are recognized as equivalent to the university Masters degrees that have been handed out before by the actual universities.
The reason why this is an issue for me is that the ammattikorkeakoulu system is trying to play a publicity stunt by trying to make it appear as if it's an actual university, which it most definately is not. If you look at the main responsibilities of universities (doing research, influencing in society through educated opinions, upholding culture, giving scientific education which builds a strong foundation for doing academic research and so on) and you'll notice that the Universities of Applied Sciences don't really do any of those things. They do serve a purpose, mainly training people to do something concrete. And those people are needed. But their current moves are just bringing unnecessary confusion to the landscape. And in the long run this my actually turn against them...
Let's take a scenario where they are indeed considered as equals to universities and the degrees are also equivalent. The scope and level of teaching is still drastically different. The credits are handed out a lot more easily than in, say, TKK. Eventually you'll have a two-story system of universities in Finland. You'll have the first tier universities (the "real" universities) and then the second tier universities, which are considered inferior to the first tier schools. And that will in turn completely destroy their reputation; if you play basketball and like to play basketball but have never played golf, you'll just get completely creamed at a golf competition. Focus on basketball instead, since that's where you're good at.
Of course I have to admit that this might sound a bit elitistic and arrogant and there is naturally my own agenda in which I fear the devaluation of the MSc degree, which might in turn hurt me. But I seriously do think that there is a position to fill for ammattikorkeakoulus, but they are missing the point and trying to be something they are not. They'll never be part of the academia, but that isn't in any way a bad thing for either the academia or the ammattikorkeakoulu system. This current direction, however, will only make things worse for everyone a bit later and some sense should be hammered into the leaders.
The reason why this is an issue for me is that the ammattikorkeakoulu system is trying to play a publicity stunt by trying to make it appear as if it's an actual university, which it most definately is not. If you look at the main responsibilities of universities (doing research, influencing in society through educated opinions, upholding culture, giving scientific education which builds a strong foundation for doing academic research and so on) and you'll notice that the Universities of Applied Sciences don't really do any of those things. They do serve a purpose, mainly training people to do something concrete. And those people are needed. But their current moves are just bringing unnecessary confusion to the landscape. And in the long run this my actually turn against them...
Let's take a scenario where they are indeed considered as equals to universities and the degrees are also equivalent. The scope and level of teaching is still drastically different. The credits are handed out a lot more easily than in, say, TKK. Eventually you'll have a two-story system of universities in Finland. You'll have the first tier universities (the "real" universities) and then the second tier universities, which are considered inferior to the first tier schools. And that will in turn completely destroy their reputation; if you play basketball and like to play basketball but have never played golf, you'll just get completely creamed at a golf competition. Focus on basketball instead, since that's where you're good at.
Of course I have to admit that this might sound a bit elitistic and arrogant and there is naturally my own agenda in which I fear the devaluation of the MSc degree, which might in turn hurt me. But I seriously do think that there is a position to fill for ammattikorkeakoulus, but they are missing the point and trying to be something they are not. They'll never be part of the academia, but that isn't in any way a bad thing for either the academia or the ammattikorkeakoulu system. This current direction, however, will only make things worse for everyone a bit later and some sense should be hammered into the leaders.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Ready, set, go!
I received confirmation today that I indeed got the outsourcing topic for my BSc thesis and I guess this is the first time that I actually grasp to a some extent that this is real. That I'm actually nearing the finnish of one degree. Eventually. This also sort of defines the path that I'm going to take, mainly that my major will indeed most likely be from the Software Business Lab.
It also turned out that the coordinator for the BSc stuff in SBL will also by my mentor and a quick look at her CV has me sort of spooked. 29 and already a Licentiate of Science (tech) and Master of Arts (educ) and nearly a Doctor of Philosophy (tech) and Master of Science (econ) with a huge list of publications. All the people sporting lists like that who I've met before have turned out to be fairly demanding of other people, so I guess this'll most likely mean that I'll either break down or create a brilliant thesis. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be the latter scenario...
It also turned out that the coordinator for the BSc stuff in SBL will also by my mentor and a quick look at her CV has me sort of spooked. 29 and already a Licentiate of Science (tech) and Master of Arts (educ) and nearly a Doctor of Philosophy (tech) and Master of Science (econ) with a huge list of publications. All the people sporting lists like that who I've met before have turned out to be fairly demanding of other people, so I guess this'll most likely mean that I'll either break down or create a brilliant thesis. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be the latter scenario...
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Christmas holidays...
So Christmas came and went and this was the first year that I didn't spend it with my immediate family. Actually, I was completely alone the entire Christmas, and it was quite a welcome change (not that I mind spending time with my family, quite the opposite, in fact). No stress, no real human contact, just lying around and so on. Oh, and I did watch both Bridget Jones movies, and I have to say that they still are very brilliant (and for those that say that they're only for chicks; sod off!). They are really quite clever and I'm actually pretty happy that Mr. Darcy still was the one who came out on top. Maybe because I identify myself more with Darcy than Cleaver. Well, ok, I may not exactly be on par with Mr. Firth, but oh well. The films did, though, trigger some fairly sensitive and personal memories and scratched open some old wounds, but I think I can safely say that this is a healthy and most likely the final part of a healing process of sorts. Good as new, at last. But of course these things have no place in a blog, especially not mine. I'm not that open. ;)
Overall the break from normal life for the extended weekend allowed lots of time for introspection (again) and I am actually fairly pleased; I can, with quite a bit of certainty, say that I am learning more about myself each time and I think I'll have to take a moment some time during 2007 and try to figure out and organize a lot of thoughts and try to get them on paper.
Anyway, I did also get around to planning my schedule for next spring and I decided to start my BSc thesis and also keep log of the process on my web page (available here, only in Finnish, though). The topics seem quite interesting, but I still have to see if I can actually do the thesis as I'm only taking the course on managing a software company this spring, and it's listed as a pre-requisite for two of the BSc thesis topics. Hopefully there'll be room to negotiate a bit - otherwise I may have to push the thesis to next fall.
In any event, I also typed up a list of resolutions for 2007 and put that online, too (available here). The idea is simple; I'll set that as the homepage for my browser and I'll have to confront that screen every time I open up Firefox. That way I can't get away from those. In addition, by making the resolutions public, Google will most likely index them (as will The Way Back Machine), and I'll seriously have to work towards keeping them. The toughest two will be getting my BSc done entirely by next Christmas and getting a place as an exchange student in some eastern European country. I guess we'll see what will happen in about 365 days...
Overall the break from normal life for the extended weekend allowed lots of time for introspection (again) and I am actually fairly pleased; I can, with quite a bit of certainty, say that I am learning more about myself each time and I think I'll have to take a moment some time during 2007 and try to figure out and organize a lot of thoughts and try to get them on paper.
Anyway, I did also get around to planning my schedule for next spring and I decided to start my BSc thesis and also keep log of the process on my web page (available here, only in Finnish, though). The topics seem quite interesting, but I still have to see if I can actually do the thesis as I'm only taking the course on managing a software company this spring, and it's listed as a pre-requisite for two of the BSc thesis topics. Hopefully there'll be room to negotiate a bit - otherwise I may have to push the thesis to next fall.
In any event, I also typed up a list of resolutions for 2007 and put that online, too (available here). The idea is simple; I'll set that as the homepage for my browser and I'll have to confront that screen every time I open up Firefox. That way I can't get away from those. In addition, by making the resolutions public, Google will most likely index them (as will The Way Back Machine), and I'll seriously have to work towards keeping them. The toughest two will be getting my BSc done entirely by next Christmas and getting a place as an exchange student in some eastern European country. I guess we'll see what will happen in about 365 days...
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Marketing Management & Luck
The exam for Marketing Management was today and let's just say that I got moving a bit late in the semester when it came to preparing for it. In the end I didn't even have time to delve that deeply into Kotler & Keller, but thankfully there were rather decent summaries at the end of each chapter which helped create a rather good high level view of what the course was about. Additionally the questions in the exam couldn't have been better for me.
They'd also done away with the multiple choice questions part, which has traditionally been the hit or miss part of the exam. I stumbled a bit in the first exercise in which you were to explain various terms briefly. The maximum was 10 points, I'll venture a guess that I should get about five.
Then there were the essays. Three essay choices and you had to answer two. The two I did were on differentiation (what is it, what are the different dimensions of it and then examining how IKEA differentiates itself from the competition) and segmentation (what is it, when should it be done, advantages/disadvantages and then how the traditional segmentation model differed from the "Strategic Segmentation" concept which was discussed at a lecture). And best of all, English was allowed. Overall I'd say that the exam went extremely well considering the amount of effort I put into it.
I'm starting to get to the conclusion that school, in fact, isn't that difficult at this level either. It's just a question of optimizing workload and goals. I'm satisfied enough to have a grade average of 3 or higher, preferrably closer to 4 than 3. Of course 5s would be nice, but they're hardly worth the extra effort, especially if that extra mile would most likely increase the required effort by an additional 40-50%. Oh, and right now I'm becoming increasingly certain that I indeed want to do my minor at the dept. of industrial engineering and management.
They'd also done away with the multiple choice questions part, which has traditionally been the hit or miss part of the exam. I stumbled a bit in the first exercise in which you were to explain various terms briefly. The maximum was 10 points, I'll venture a guess that I should get about five.
Then there were the essays. Three essay choices and you had to answer two. The two I did were on differentiation (what is it, what are the different dimensions of it and then examining how IKEA differentiates itself from the competition) and segmentation (what is it, when should it be done, advantages/disadvantages and then how the traditional segmentation model differed from the "Strategic Segmentation" concept which was discussed at a lecture). And best of all, English was allowed. Overall I'd say that the exam went extremely well considering the amount of effort I put into it.
I'm starting to get to the conclusion that school, in fact, isn't that difficult at this level either. It's just a question of optimizing workload and goals. I'm satisfied enough to have a grade average of 3 or higher, preferrably closer to 4 than 3. Of course 5s would be nice, but they're hardly worth the extra effort, especially if that extra mile would most likely increase the required effort by an additional 40-50%. Oh, and right now I'm becoming increasingly certain that I indeed want to do my minor at the dept. of industrial engineering and management.
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