By Jinjutha Na Srito, BBA#17

Last semester, four BBA students selected to enroll in BBA and IMBA?s first cross program course, ?Marketing Strategy for Entrepreneurs? whereby we were given the opportunity to spend a semester in class with Thammasat?s own IMBA students. The four of us nervously attended our first class, without an idea of what to expect. Would the material be harder as we would be studying with master degree students? Would the grading be more demanding compared to BBA?

We were pleasantly surprised after having attended our first class whereby we met many new classmates with diverse backgrounds. Our new classmates included various family business owners, marketers, bankers and even those who work for NGOs to name a few. The classes regularly focused on case analyses and business plan projects which involved a lot of in class discussions. Interestingly, we were able to gain insights from our fellow IMBA classmates who have working experiences that were brought to the table during such discussions, while we BBAs were able to apply the frameworks and quantitative analysis that we have learnt throughout our undergraduate program, creating some of the most interesting case discussions yet.

Marketing Strategy for Entrepreneurs focused on developing us not only on an analytical level, but on a creative level whereby we were encouraged to continuously look for out of the box ideas that can be developed into business initiatives. Ajarn Edward Rubesch included activities such as ?Metamorphosis? to provoke such creativity. This activity was unique as it got the class to look beyond our normal routines and actively seek inspiration as this is where genuine business ideas could materialize. We were impressed by the courses? unique approach to business in that at times, what was most important was not our ability to develop advanced analytical skills, but our  drive in seeking out inspiration and opportunities in everyday life.

Marketing Strategy for Entrepreneurs definitely got us four BBA students to become more aware that business ideas could materialize everyday if we took the time and effort into observing potential opportunities that can present themselves in all situations. Our entrepreneurial spirits were provoked and our analytical skills deepened. Most importantly, our network horizon broadened as we got to spend a whole semester with classmates from IMBA who we may otherwise, never would have met. Thank you BBA for giving us this wonderful opportunity!

Posted date: February 14, 2012 ? 13:30 hrs.