Cardinal Cards complete

Wow, I can’t think of a better start for an MBA program than running a business simulation that get you to experience running a business. Cardinal cards requires a team of about 12 compete with another 5 teams to make & sell the best greeting cards from all day (it gets exhausting). Each “cycle” lasts 20 minutes as you rush around collecting orders, purchasing supplies, ordering market research etc… It was all pretty good as it forced you to appreciate all the functions of business/management. The stakeholder roles within the simulation were all played by GSB faculty and staff which is great for getting to know them early on. There are also appropriately inserted “lessons or hints” in between cycles to alert you of the issues faced by a manager ranging from ethics to leadership & teamwork. I was in the administration role, helping to prepare financial accounts on time at the end of each cycle as well as taking care of other random compliance forms. Our team, and I’m sure much can be said about others, struggled in the first day with everyone shouting over each other, but by the end of the second day we were an amazing cohesive team and I have to boast that we were the most profitable team and had the highest customer satisfaction! At the end of the second day marking the end of the simulation, we were notified of a GSB slip up on setting up our sections and study groups, leading to an emotional outcry by teams. The Cardinal Card teams were set up in such a way that many were part of the same study or section, so the change meant that I, for one, was not in the same study group that I had bonded with over the last few days… Of course, my new study group could be just as awesome as the former…!
Directly following the Cardinal Cards, was the Liquidity Preference Function (LPF), the first of the after week drinks sessions and get together, and you could finally grasp the size of the class and meet people who lived either in another part of Stanford or off-campus. At this point, I was beginning to get tired… I think the amount of sport I tried to participate in over the past week must have played a role, or maybe it’s getting up at 6:50am to play tennis before breakfast & Cardinal Cards that caused it…
Today, I need to escape the business school scene just for the afternoon… Yes, back to San Francisco. This time to explore Oakland & Berkeley area, find a barber and catch up with friends…