Module Two-Spain!

Yesterday, I started Module Two of my Global Educational Adventure.

We are currently in Barcelona and then next week will be in Madrid. (Tough life-huh?!)

The courses in Module Two are:
-Corporate Strategy,
-Corporate Financial,
-Industry Economics
-Integrated Course: Competing Globalizing Industries

So far, so GOOD! I am following along much better in Corporate Finance then last quarter's accounting class. My professor Gloria Batllori is an incredibly smart professor that can lasso complex ideas into a practical, simple approach that the students can all understand. She put a graphic on the board today where you saw all three financial statements connected and I could almost hear my brain click with "Aha". Not to say that I didn't understand the interdependence last quarter, but sometimes, being shown in a new way, with a new graphic, drives the concepts to a deeper understanding.  Mix that with the bigger picture of forecasting and I feel like I am starting to really understand the financial field, and where each process fits in to the picture of examining a firms value. We have a project due at the end of the week, where the class is divided into six teams and we all discuss a different firm and evaluate it based on the financial history as well provide an overall evaluation for the future. My team will be analyzing Amazon. (Out of the 6 companies, I think two or three were from Seattle, and as the unofficial, self appointed ambassador for Seattle, you can imagine the delight I feel.)  I tried in Seattle this summer to get in contact with a senior finance person at Amazon to discuss the financial statements and forecasting projections; however, it was to no avail. I may try to pursue again after I return-so if you know anyone, please let me know.  :)

For my Corporate Strategy class, I just turned in my first paper of the module.  It was on the corporate strategy of Harley Davidson. Kinda fun to examine the company's history, it's values, and how it leveraged it's competencies to be a leader in the heavy weight motorcycles. For instance, did you know that it was founded in 1903 (pretty old company), it doesn't have a corporate hierarchy structure (they believe in circle method based on functional groups), and they have an easy customization ability, by having few options in the core components and have multiple variations in the aesthetic options. I must admit, reading about motorcycles and being in Spain where everyone drives scooters, makes me really really want a scooter. If someone could just make Seattle less rainy, I would totally trade my 4 wheels for 2 wheels.  

Okay, back to studying for me.

L