Travel Report SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY, FALL 2014 79919F Preparing for the exchange Every semester SMU receives 400 to 600 exchange students, so the international office of SMU is rather well coordinated and in control of the incoming mass of exchange students, but you need to pay attention to the directions and deadlines they give you. Fortunately, everything can be handled electronically before you get to Singapore. After your arrival, you need to go to the immigration office to pick up your ’student pass’, which is essentially a student visa. For the pass you need to send some documents beforehand, but SMU provides you with step-­‐by-­‐step instructions and all you need to do is to follow them. However, different universities in Singapore have different processes even when it comes to acquiring the student pass, so the information you receive from NUS/NTU/… students might not apply to you. The protocols also vary based on where you’re coming from. For example, the cost of the student pass is different for different nationalities, as some need a visa even for travelling to Singapore and some don’t (with a Finnish passport you don’t). Besides the formalities required by SMU and Singapore, there is not much you can do before getting to Singapore. Flight tickets should be booked well in advance, as for example Finnair offers some student discounts, but there is only a limited number of discounted tickets available. SMU gives you a deadline for arriving to Singapore, which you should follow if you can, but if you have something pressing in Finland or somewhere else, don’t worry, as you can arrive also later. However, it’s better the earlier you arrive, as you have to allocate some time for the formalities, finding accommodation and so on. You shouldn’t stress about finding accommodation before arriving, only after it J. That is due to the fact that the accommodation situation is rather terrible, so the chances of finding a place to stay before getting there are rather slim. Most exchange students book a hostel for a week or two and from then on form groups to find accommodation together. During my exchange, many students were staying in Sleepy Kiwi and Green Kiwi during the beginning of the semester, but pay attention to what people are planning to do in the SMU Facebook groups. Oh, and join them. If you’re struggling to understand what is required in a form or another, the odds are, that there are at least ten others with the same problem, and hopefully at least one who knows what to do. Studies SMU SMU is a rather young university, but despite its young age, it is highly esteemed in Singapore and internationally. It was founded in 2000 and comprises of six different schools with the following orientations: accountancy, business, economics, information systems and law. SMU provides undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. programs, but to my knowledge only accepts exchange students to study at the undergraduate level. The facilities are new and located in the dead center of Singapore. The teaching style is rather different from ours in Finland, as SMU utilizes a so-­‐called ‘American-­‐
style” approach. This means that the class sizes are small (usually maximum 45 students) and the lectures highly interactive (at least that is the intention). This you can also see in the lecture room design: most of the rooms are shaped like a half-­‐circle with rising rows and the place for the instructor in the middle. Furthermore, most of the lecturers require you to have a name tag in front of you, which means that they might make you participate even if you don’t want to. Studies in general The semester in SMU starts really early compared to ours, in the beginning of August. Before the actual lectures start, there are a couple of orientation days. The orientation is rather information-­‐
based, so it doesn’t involve getting to know other exchange students that much. They provide you with information regarding studies in general, school information systems, facilities and so on. If you want – and why wouldn’t you – you can have a “buddy” assigned to you, which essentially is a local student that helps you with any problems you might have. The initial registering for courses takes place somewhere in July at 9 o’clock in the morning (Singaporean time) which translates to 4 o’clock during the night in our end. The course enrolment works on ‘first come, first served’ basis, so speed is of the essence. There are a limited number of places for exchange students (if any) so before the registration I would recommend you to spend some time to find out which courses you want to take. You only have seconds to enroll to the courses, but if at this point you get what you want, it makes your life a whole lot easier. If you are not successful during the initial course registration, worry not, as there’s still a good chance that you get the courses you want, but it requires some work. During the first two weeks there is a thing called “BOSS Bidding”. This means that every student is given 100 e-­‐dollars which are then used to bid for courses in multiple bidding rounds. If you have a lot of changes to make, this can be taxing, but if you want to change only one or two courses, you can bid all of your dollars on them and probably get them. Most of the courses limit the number of exchange students that can take the course and some of them don’t accept exchange students at all, but there’s still a wide array of courses to choose from. I took most of my courses from the school of business, but you can also take courses from other schools if you can include them in your learning agreement and if you fulfill the prerequisites. Most of the courses have an exam at the end of the semester, but it almost never is the only factor affecting your grade. There is usually a group project or two, some presentations, written reports... In the end, the workload is not that high, but the group projects take time as the local students have a tendency to go over the top with the effort they put in, so they schedule group meetings a bit more than necessary. To be honest, I preferred that to doing group projects with only exchange students as you otherwise wouldn’t make that much contact with local students. Besides deliverables, your class attendance and participation has a significant influence on your grade. This encourages people to participate during the lectures and in my opinion works quite well. The language of instruction is English, but some professors might have a thick Singaporean accent which makes it hard to understand. I was lucky and didn’t encounter problems like that, but I only had one Singaporean teacher in my four courses. SMU employs professors all over the world and the professors that I had were Belgian, American, Spanish and that one Singaporean. The courses I took Name MGMT 102 Strategy Level Undergraduate Credits 1 CU (7.5 ECTS) Instructor Dr. Adel Dimian Evaluation Class participation 20% Case homework 20% Strategy Simulator 20% Term project 20% Final exam 20% Introduction to strategic planning and management: external and internal Content analyses, business-­‐level strategies, corporate-­‐level strategies, strategy process and implementation, competitive dynamics and so on. Comments There are many different instances of this going on concurrently, so the professor you choose is going to have a big impact on how the course turns out. I thoroughly enjoyed the course as the professor was really engaging and had experience in various industries. He used a lot of Harvard Business School cases to demonstrate different aspects on strategic management, but we also got to compete against other groups in a strategy simulator game. The simulator rounds took some time, but otherwise the course was not too demanding. The course was really useful, as with the cases and the simulator you were able to apply the theoretical concepts and come up with your own strategic solutions. Name MGMT 317 Managing Process Improvement Level Undergraduate Credits 1 CU (7.5 ECTS) Instructor Dr. Adel Dimian & Dr. Lieven Demeester Evaluation Project 40% Class participation 20% Peer evaluation 10% Final exam 20% Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodology utilized in a real-­‐life Content project. Different tools and project management skills related to Lean Six Sigma Comments The course consists of lectures during which you are taught about process improvement utilizing the Lean Six Sigma methodology and a real-­‐life project in which you apply those tools and skills. The projects are carried out in groups of four to six people and require a high level of commitment, as there are a lot of deliverables and meetings (within your group, with the client and with the professors...). It is demanding, but also rewarding at the same time and if you pass the course, SMU certifies you with a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. I’m really glad that I took the course, even though it restricted my free time activities a bit, but it was still worth it. I got to work with a local company and learned loads about process improvement in general, different tools you can use, project management, quality statistics and so on. Name POSC103 World Politics Level Undergraduate Credits 1 CU (7.5 ECTS) Instructor Dr. Clara Portela Evaluation Content Class presentation 10% Class participation 20% Quizzes 10% Research Essay 20% Mid-­‐term Exam 20% Final exam 20% Different theories regarding international relations Comments This was a bit of a wildcard for me. I took it because I felt that I understood too little about what is going on in the world, but it turned out mostly to be different political theories in international relations with little application to current issues. Not that useful for me, but some might enjoy it more. Name MGMT 227 Corporate Creativity Level Undergraduate Credits 1 CU (7.5 ECTS) Instructor Dr. Gilbert Tan Evaluation Class participation 10% Test 30% Individual assignments 30% Group presentation and report 30% Different approaches to creativity, organizational creativity, creativity Content techniques Comments I took this one to balance my workload as I knew that the process improvement project would require a lot of work. Not that demanding, but not that useful either. Some of the creativity techniques I might use later on, but you don’t need a whole course for that. If I had a second chance, I would pick something more useful, as you still had to put in some effort to pass the course. Free time and other information The cost of living is rather high, mostly due to high accommodation costs. Exchange students of SMU have it a bit worse than students from e.g. NTU or NUS, as SMU does not provide housing for exchange students, though not every exchange student receives a place to stay from the other universities either. Furthermore, the campus is located in the city center, so if you want to live near the university you have to pay for it. Nevertheless, the transportation system in Singapore is great so if you live a bit further away, but close to a subway station, it does not take too long to travel to the university, as there are four different subway stations around SMU. Most exchange students decide to form groups of 5 to 8 people and rent a condominium apartment near the center, but it does not come cheap as you still have to pay around 1000 SGD (600 euros in 2014 currency rates) for a shared room. However, some of the condos provide a multitude of other amenities besides housing, ranging from swimming pools to bowling alleys to karaoke rooms. If you don’t want to pay that much for housing and would prefer to use that money for something else (e.g. travelling), you can try to find a place to stay further away from the center or choose to stay at these private student dormitories. They might not be that close to the center, but they’re inexpensive and there are usually some other exchange students staying there as well. There is no shortage of different kinds of food in Singapore, and fortunately, it is all rather cheap. It is also really good, which resulted in me not cooking once while I was there, even though I cook most of my meals by myself back home. On the other hand, the cost of alcohol and going out in general will leave a dent in your wallet if you are not careful. Basic entry fee to a night club is 20 SGD, but even 30 SGD is not uncommon. However, I must say that there are some really nice bars in Singapore. My personal favorite is a bar called 1-­‐Altitude: it is located on the rooftop of one of the highest buildings in Singapore (so 280 meters) and you get a spectacular 360-­‐degree view of Singapore. If you decide to go to Singapore, you should definitely go there. I promise you won’t be disappointed. The location of Singapore is superb when it comes to travelling. There is not that much to do in Singapore itself after you have seen sufficiently many exchange student parties or night clubs in general, but you can get inexpensive plane tickets to almost everywhere in South East Asia. I, myself, travelled to Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia, but many travelled even more. If you plan your study timetable well, you can have every Monday and Friday free which makes it really easy to make small getaways. Final comments I really enjoyed my stay in Singapore and my studies in SMU. I would say, Singapore is one of the best exchange destinations imaginable, as the universities are top notch, but there is also so much to see and do during your free time, if not in Singapore, then at least in the neighboring countries. Furthermore, it’s almost always sunny, which really affects your mood (in a positive way!) and even though it can get quite hot, you get used to it surprisingly fast. As a host university, I thoroughly enjoyed SMU. The teachers were great and I really liked the American-­‐style lectures as they were something different from what I was used to. The locals really like to put effort in their studies, which creates a hard-­‐working atmosphere, which I enjoyed, but not everyone might feel the same way. If I were to do another exchange in SMU, there are not too many things I would do in a different way. If something, I would study harder and really make use of the expertise of the professors. They are really world-­‐class and you can learn a lot from them, whichever your major is. The operations management course that I took was stellar, so I would try to take more courses by the same professors. I learned a lot during my time studying but even more when travelling. I got see some amazing places, but also people from different cultures and see how they live. It all gave a lot of perspective on my own life and on Finland too. I know it’s a cliché, but I now appreciate more how good we actually have it in Finland and try to take less things for granted. I have to say, I was a bit hesitant to leave for exchange, but I’m really, really glad I did. Moving abroad (even though for a short while) seemed like a big deal, but in reality it did not require that much of an effort. I’m now more open to moving abroad to work after I graduate and plan to actually do that, at least for a couple of years.