Managerial Negotiations - Fisher College of Business MBA blog - Joseph Fahrendorf

As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, I am taking an elective called Managerial Negotiations. First year MBA students who have a GPA above 3.25 are allowed to take one elective during their second quarter. I figured Managerial Negotiations was a great choice because it is not only applicable to business, but also to everyday life.

The class is designed to allow us to practice different negotiation tactics each class in small groups. This safe environment allows us to get out of our comfort zone and really test different theories and strategies. Today’s class involved a negotiation between two individuals: one interested in selling a manufacturing plant and the other interested in buying a manufacturing plant. The buyer and seller each knew several common facts such as the appraisal value of the plant and the selling price of a slightly newer manufacturing plant in the same area. Although this common knowledge allowed us to get the conversation started, there were other areas that we had to consider such as: the building’s depreciation, falling land value, synergies between the companies manufacturing set-up, and the time it would take to build a new plant if an agreement couldn’t be reached. Somewhere in the middle we needed to come to an agreement.

I left my negotiation very happy with the deal we struck. I bought the plant in the lower part of my target range which I developed before entering the discussion. As it turned out, my deal was right in the middle of the class’ purchasing prices: five groups bought the plant for less, six groups sold the plant for more, and two groups were unable to reach a deal.

Joe





This post was republished by Joseph Fahrendorf's MBA blog.)

Super Wednesday

Tomorrow is a big day for me for two reasons.

First, I am meeting with Professor Tony Rucci to discuss my career interests and to learn more about corporate strategy and business development. Dr. Rucci is one of my professors in MBA 860: Organizational Behavior and Leadership Effectiveness, but this is not his only claim to fame. Prior to joining the Fisher faculty, he was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Business Development at Sears Roebuck & Company. He was also Chairman of the board of directors for Sears de Mexico and served on the boards of Sears Canada, Western Auto, and Grupp Carso’s retail board. Before his Sears days, he was the SVP of Human Resources at Baxter International. Needless to say, I am really excited to sit down with him and discuss my career options.

Second, my first accounting team project is due. We finished the project a few days ago, so for the past two days we have been able to work on other assignments. (Note: Several of the teams I know did not work ahead on this project and will be burning the midnight oil to finish on time. Good luck to them.) I’d also like to take this time to say that I probably have the best team in Fisher -- no joke. My group is hardworking, collaborative, intelligent, efficient, and FUN. Not every group is so lucky. My team members include:

Kevin Lawrence – This week’s Accounting All-Star
Meng-Tse (Joseph) Cheng
Alison Guzman
Ian Menchen

Now back to the books…
Joe



(republished from post https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/)

Time for student organizations

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to eat Papa John’s pizza 4 days in a row? I have – and that’s why I attended every student organization’s information session in 375 Gerlach Hall this past week. By the fourth day, I had succumbed to pouring Papa J’s famous garlic dipping sauce all over my pizza to spice up the monotonous (but free) lunch. Am I alive? Yes. Does it feel like it? Not really.

Actually, the real reason I attended the meetings was not for the free pizza, but for the opportunity to learn more about the student run organizations at Fisher College. What I discovered is that Fisher has a plethora of organizations that span the diverse student body. Since I have a limited amount of time, I am trying to whittle down the number of organizations that are attractive to me. I will probably join only 2 or possibly 3 clubs, so that I will have the time and energy to take an active leadership role within the organizations. I am currently interested in the following groups…

Fisher 5K Association
Fisher Board Fellows
Fisher Graduate Student Association
Fisher Professional Services & ProjectOne
Initiative for Managing Services

Hopefully by the end of next week I'll have made my decisions.
-Joe

(this post was republished from https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/ )

Maybe a History degree wasn’t a great idea…

On Wednesday of last week, I had my first class as an Ohio State graduate student. I never thought I’d say this about school, but I am really excited about my core curriculum and the skill sets that I’m about to gain. After graduating from Yale University in 2006, I entered corporate America thinking I was prepared for anything that would come my way. As you can probably imagine, it didn’t take long before I realized that I still had much to learn. (Despite this discovery, I have no regrets about earning a BA in History… it just needs to be complemented with an MBA.)

Now that I have a couple classes under my belt, I need to stay on top of my assignments so I don’t fall behind in class. Since I am one of a handful of students who have never taken a business class, I’ll need to work twice as hard as my peers. Fortunately, I have come to this realization before receiving my first round of grades, and I am currently in the process of finding a place where I can study in the most efficient manner.

My first weekend as a student on Ohio State’s campus has been fairly dull from a blogger’s perspective. On Friday, I woke up and started reading the 4 chapters that were assigned in Economics. Around noon, I helped a friend move a futon to his place. (He provided Chipotle for lunch.) Afterwards I started reading again until I could no longer focus due to my excitement for that night’s social activity: 1980’s theme party. As expected, it rocked.

On Saturday, I woke-up to the sound of pouring rain and decided against going to The Horseshoe to root on the Buckeyes. Instead of watching the game on TV, I decided to make it a “reading day” and drove to the Upper Arlington Public Library to get some work done. I stayed in the library for 8 hours and left at the 5pm closing time. After spending the entire day in the library I was completely brain dead when I left and decided to make it an early night rather than going out with my MBA friends.

Sunday was very similar to my Saturday. I woke up early and went to Gerlach Hall to study. I started reading my Accounting chapters, but continuously took mini breaks to watch the Bengals game on TV in Gerlach’s hallway. All I can say is “Who Dey, baby!?”

Joe

(blog republished from https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/ )

Joseph Fahrendorf

Back to school

It’s the night before my first day of business school and I don’t know how to describe my feelings. Does “reluctant anticipation” make sense to anyone?

Don’t get me wrong... I am definitely excited about the start of classes. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Earning my MBA from Fisher College will provide me the business skills necessary to think both critically and strategically about leadership and management. What more could I ask, right?

Well, I am reluctant to begin this journey because for the first time in my life I am behind on schoolwork before classes have officially begun. You might be wondering, “How is it possible to be behind in something that hasn’t actually started?” Don’t worry; this is not some theoretical question. (Remember, my personality is ESTP… theories and conceptual problems bore me.) The answer is really quite simple: three out of my five classes have work due on the first day of class.

*MBA 800: Financial Accounting & Reporting
*MBA 812: Managerial Economics
MBA 825: Enhancing Professional Interchange
MBA 860: Organizational Behavior & Teamwork
*MBA 870: Data Analysis for Managers

The good news is that I am almost finished with my homework and I will be ready to dive into my MBA experience head first. Wish me luck.
Joe Fahrendorf

(this blog entry was republished from https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/ )

Joseph Fahrendorf