My Last Class at Durham University Business School

In 2015, the last class of my MBA program at Durham University Business School was a 'Boardroom Exercise'. This course was designed with the expectation that we would be serving on boards of directors after graduation when we entered senior management positions. The instructors first divided the students into groups, and then the students decided on their own titles and positions within the board. This 'Boardroom Exercise' course used a group-based scoring system, meaning that grades were given based on the overall performance of the group, rather than individual performance.

Unexpectedly, the very first day revealed everyone's competitive nature. The 'Board of Directors Training' course required everyone to elect a CEO, a CFO, and four executives responsible for different markets. At the beginning, the module leader Professor Peter introduced that the course would be jointly taught and graded by him and two senior MBA alumni. One of the alumni bluntly told us that last year's students had fired their CEO during the study. As this course affected everyone's grades, I was shocked to hear this and wondered what would happen to the student who was fired as CEO?

The rules of this class made students

'Secretly Plan for Individual Benefit.'

Because the school doesn't publish individual student grades for each subject, but only compiles and publishes the final scores for each subject, from highest to lowest, and the number of students in each score range. This makes everyone aware of their own level within the class, which reduces competition among students.

After the course started, the local student who had been acting like a host and showing goodwill to the whole class for the past year, began to show a side that we had never seen before. The three male students' ambition to become CEO was obviously. I sensed that the atmosphere of the whole team was very strange, and I didn't understand why this course would be graded by the performance of the whole team, but not because whoever had a high status in the 'board' would get a high score. Yet those three male students wanted to be the boss and CEO so much.

A male student from mid-east expressed his desire to become the CFO because of his high grades in finance course, and no one dared to object. I sensed a tense atmosphere in the air. I noticed that the local student and another male student from Asia seemed particularly keen on the CEO position, especially the local student, whose attitude was clearly "He is determined to get it, no one else but him." However, I knew very well that I was the most senior professional in the team, but none of us knew each other's academic performance, making it impossible to assign each one a job based on that. During the discussion of everyone's roles, we consider that the local student, who had not only brought homemade French crepes to school to share with the class, but also invited us to his house for a Christmas party. In the end, everyone fatalistically believed that having a CEO whose native language is English would be a great advantage to the whole team. But we never expected that the subsequent development of this decision would be completely unexpected.

During the job assignment process, I sensed a strong competitive atmosphere and could not help but privately ask a senior graduate to clarify that the course graded team scores, not the level of the position. Why were some students so determined to become CEOs or CFOs? Later, that senior student shared my question in class. Those male students who were eager to compete for higher positions knew perfectly well that he was talking about them, but they did not change their meaningless competitiveness. Instead, in the following two weeks of preparing for the board meeting, they unabashedly exposed their ignorance, selfishness, and ugly side.

The CEO who was "deeply immersed in his role" but "did nothing"

during the class

After deciding on each student's job title, the local student ridiculously said, "I will show you my leadership!" This was quite different from the friendly side I had observed in him over the past year. Then everyone started on our assigned tasks. The Chinese, Nigerian female student, the Pakistani male student, and I each took on the tasks of interpreting financial statements and developing market plans, creating analysis reports and slides. The mid-east student analysed the financial situation of the company. The local student, however, had no work at all. But he thought that since he could treat us to lunch, he did not need to do anything.

After completing the report, we submitted it to the lecturer and senior MBA graduates. One of them contacted the local student with some questions. However, he could only forward the questions to us, as he had never done anything about it. Worse still, when our team wanted to meet to discuss the assignment on the first weekend, the local student said he and his wife were going on a trip to Europe. Despite playing the role of CEO in our team, he clearly did not want to participate in the course, which frustrated us.

The second week, we were in the stage of completing the report and preparing for our presentation to the board. We simulated the questions the professor and senior students might ask. I suggested that we should practice on the weekend, but the local student told us that he and his wife were going on a trip to the Netherlands and flatly refused again. I was very worried about whether each of our group members would be able to perform appropriately when asked questions. Therefore, I told the local student that this course was related to everyone's grades, and everyone should vote on whether to come to school for a mock exam at the weekend. But the local student only cared about the CEO title, he really thought that he was the big boss and the other group members were his underlings. He did whatever he wanted, and his ignorance, selfishness, and arrogance ruined the whole team at the end of the class.

High-ranking executives harboring their own ulterior motives

The entire MBA program ended after the two-week Boardroom Exercise course. After class, the whole class met at a bar in the city center. The local classmate, once again, generously paid for everyone's drinks. Then he followed me to a tree and asked curiously, "Linda, what did you do before?" My suggestion to hold a vote clearly surprised him. I knew very well that his past career lacked any experience in meetings and voting, making him clearly unsuitable for the CEO role. Worst of all, he arrogantly declared "He'll show us his leadership!" upon becoming CEO. He was too engrossed in his role as CEO in this course, mistakenly believing himself to be the boss of his classmates, and that we were all there to work for him. However, this was just a mock board meeting. His behavior, in the eyes of the other students and the professor, clearly showed that he only wanted to reap the rewards of other students’ hard work. Meanwhile, the student in the role of CFO refused to share his report from beginning to end. Only the four students acting as directors generously shared their assignments and reports. This atmosphere of mutual ulterior motives sowed the seeds of future problems in the class.

The last class was an "aha" moment for me.

Frankly, while playing the role of a marketing director and reviewing financial statements to formulate marketing strategies, I realised that this course was practical exercise requiring students to apply what they had learned in the whole MBA programme to the board. I also realised why I did not know how to digest the data of client financial statements when I worked at a listed company. This Boardroom Exercise, however, gave me a sudden insight into how to interpret a company's financial statements and formulate marketing strategies accordingly. This was both a source of joy and sadness for me, and it deepened my regret for not pursuing a master's degree earlier to enhance my business knowledge and skills.

A board meeting filled with cannon fodder,

the whole meeting was too painful to behold.

On the day of the board meeting for evaluation, we thought that the reports and presentations the four directors had painstakingly prepared would finally come in handy. However, the two senior MBA graduates and our lecturer, Professor Peter Allen, started by asking the local students questions. Although the CEO whose native language was English, he had not participated in the assignment at all and refused to participate in the mock board meeting Q&A exercise. Therefore, he knew nothing about the assignment and only gave superficial opening remarks to deal with the three judges. As a result, the three judges took turns relentlessly questioning him, and our CEO was completely overwhelmed.

An hour that shocked us

What was supposed to be a one-hour board meeting evaluation turned into a 40-minute interrogation by the CEO. His performance was utterly disappointing and surprising. He had not even bothered with rehearsals and was thoroughly outmaneuvered. I assume that the three judges knew that only some students were truly studying during the two-week course, and the CEO was just an outsider. Therefore, they focused their attention on the CEO as a "weakness," relentlessly attacking him. They then turned to the CFO and spent 20 minutes questioning the content of his report that the other directors had not even seen. Finally, the judges asked about the market I was responsible for. When I was about to answer, another male student interrupted me and answered the question. The lecturer bluntly asked him, "Did I ask you? Are you in charge of this market?" and told him to shut up. Then the entire evaluation ended, leaving the female students, who had diligently prepared but had not had a chance to speak, completely dumbfounded.

After the board meeting, the MBA program's executive director invited everyone to a gathering in the business school's lounge. What should have been a joyous occasion celebrating the completion of our MBA program turned into a very dejected time because two students who replied to the professors performed poorly. The local student felt humiliated and did not speak to the rest of our group. He only talked to students from other groups. The rest of us in our group had already seen through him during the meeting; he was simply an unmotivated, incompetent, and pretentious team breaker clinging to his position. None of us spoke to him.

Feeling embarrassed and wanting to "save face,"

the local student did this...

Although I knew perfectly well that such a team performance might not yield satisfactory results, I never expected that the local student would become so enraged that he filed an appeal with the school. We even had to learned about this matter from other groups. The local student filed the appeal without discussing with us at all, disregarding the possibility that it might create bias against our group among the judges.

Ridiculously, this even aroused curiosity and jealousy among other groups, because they thought that we would get higher grades because of the local student's appeal. But that was not the case. Our group's score was dragged down by two students who did not want to share, did not want to do anything, and only wanted to be in charge. Looking back, I often stayed up until 4 a.m. for two consecutive weeks for this class; all my hard work went to waste. During the process, the four directors selflessly shared the reports, we had worked so hard on. But during the most important an hour of evaluation, all our efforts were in vain, ruined by some team members who were uncooperative.

Ten Years after Graduation,

I Finally Realised the Meaning and Value of this Class

Looking back on this course, I studied the market I was responsible for as a director, putting in the same dedication as writing a company marketing strategy. I learned a great deal during the process; the blind spots in my previous work became clear and enlightening. I benefited immensely from this course, and its value will last a lifetime. I do not understand why some students pay high tuition fees but do not want to learn, clinging only to the CEO title, wasting such a valuable learning opportunity.

However, the team-performance-based grading of this course has always been a puzzle to me. It is unfair that the grading method allowed some students with opportunistic mindsets to slack off, causing other students to put in the effort but not receive the grades they deserve. But a scene in 2025 made me realise the true value and meaning of this course. One day, I saw a customer dropping a glass of water in the VIP lounge of a department store. A member of staff immediately came with towels to check if the customer was injured and simultaneously, another member came with cleaning tools to remove the broken glass. Witnessing how the two staff oversaw the accident seamlessly and with perfect teamwork without exchanging words or assigning tasks, struck me as incredible. I suddenly wondered if all six VIP lounge staff had rehearsed and pre-assigned tasks even for such a mundane event. Afterward, I frequently observed the work attitude and teamwork of the VIP lounge staff in that department store, always deeply moved and inspired by their seamless cooperation and remarkable team spirit.

This made me realise why, in my last class in England ten years ago, the teacher graded the team performance. After all, the board of directors is having a meeting where the highest-ranking executives lead all middle and senior managers to explain and answer questions about the company's business strategy to shareholders. The teamwork and cooperation of the management team must be demonstrated to reassure investors, but not an individual to display his power. Perhaps grading based on team performance was to guide us to cultivate teamwork and build rapport. However, apart from the three female students in my group who remained clear-headed, the other two male students were blinded by their lust for power. In the last two weeks of our year together, they displayed their selfishness, their desire for power without any effort, and their unwillingness to share.

A group of VIP lounge staff at a department store, demonstrating excellent teamwork and seamless collaboration, versus a team of senior executives in a virtual company at university, exhibited such drastically different team spirits. What could be the reason? This virtual team, driven by the deep-seated competitiveness of human nature, displayed its ugly side without any attempt to conceal it, even making me wonder if I had misunderstood the rules of this course.

 Power and status can make people lose their way,

even forgetting who they are.

I could not help but recall my time working in the marketing department of a listed company. I remember a trip to India with the chair and another manager to visit clients. Before departure, he would change the itinerary multiple times a day, making it impossible for me to focus on my work. He was also obsessed with which airline to fly with. He even complained that the local dealership had arranged a Toyota City, a budget model, asking if they could not arrange a more upscale car. After communication with our agent in India, we still could not arrange a Mercedes or BMW to satisfy the chairman's vanity. I remembered his request and asked the hotel receptionist if they could arrange a Mercedes or BMW upon arrival. However, the five-star hotel could only offer a Toyota Camry. His smug look of satisfaction at an upgraded from a Toyota City to a Toyota Camry was truly laughable. Even when we arrived at the hotel, seeing its luxurious exterior, he remarked, "You're on a business trip and you're staying in such a nice hotel?" But he forgot how fixated he was in the class of the hotel and car before. I even specifically asked the chairman's secretary if the chair had any requirements or preferences regarding accommodation, and thus arranged for a modern, clean five-star hotel. After all, we were on a business trip to India, where hygiene is poor at that time. But I never expected this arrogant man, who thinks the chair is king and no one else is worthy of him, to even demand a special reception from the hotel when we arrived after midnight, to highlight his status.

In short, he wanted every arrangement to conform to his elevated position as chair. He forgot that he was the chair of a listed company, and the purpose of his visit to India should have been to strengthen relationships with clients, not to tour the countryside. This naive and ignorant mentality left me speechless and dumbfounded. He not only did he not understand my heavy workload and frequently changed his itinerary but also obsessed with ostentation.

However, the chair looked at me as if he knew nothing when the client asked him about company's market situation in the meeting. I immediately realised that the chair was not there to visit clients and consolidate the market, but to enjoy entertainment, surroundings, and to satisfy his vanity on a "tourist tour." His words and actions shocked me, just like the unbelievable behavior of the local student in the last class.

   Throughout my career, I have witnessed some managers who wielded power but lacked true competence and leadership qualities. They believed being a manager meant enjoying "boundless" power, ignoring the hard work and dedication of their subordinates. If subordinates frequently made mistakes or lacked competence, the entire department, even the company, could not function smoothly. Yet, those in high positions seemed overly obsessed with power and status, forgetting the importance of motivating teamwork.

From my personal experience, I've seen a chairman of a listed company who understood teamwork less than a low-level employee in a department store's VIP lounge; an organisation leader with higher education from a renowned international business school who was less knowledgeable than a low-level employee who had never undertaken advanced study abroad. A chair, visiting clients, was completely ignorant of his company's market performance, far inferior to an employee. If he had been humbler, he would not have caused such resentment. Indeed, that chair, due to excessive expansion of power, was swiftly removed from office after a business trip—even heaven could not bear to watch.

I am grateful to the professor and senior alumni at Durham University Business School for their guidance on this "Boardroom Exercise." This final lesson, which once filled me with resentment and doubt, has finally provided me with the "best example" and "greatest inspiration" ten years later. I will remember it forever and always follow its essence and teachings.

May my sharing shine brightly and have an impact in every corner of the world.

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