What can wake you up at 7 a.m. in your summer holiday? My previous answer would be “nothing (even if it was my favorite breakfast that quickly sold out early in the morning XD)”. However, an extra, face-to-face Finance course has successfully attracted more than twenty of us MBA participants in the middle of our summer holiday. The sessions not only reinforced finance knowledge we have acquired, but also introduced some more advanced topics with interesting case studies, which make “Finance in the Summer spicier” according to our beloved Finance Professor Arturo Bris.
As expected, Finance in the Summer is of great fun. From my perspective, it is not only “spicy” but also “sparkling”. Yesterday’s class was about valuation. When we discussed the concepts of fundamental value and economic value, I was inspired and realized that we should also find our own “fundamental value” and “economic value” during our MBA program. In my understanding, fundamental value is also an intrinsic value that is independent of its market value. While economic value is the maximum value that can be created with best possible use considering opportunity cost in trade-offs. I believe we can also evaluate ourselves from the two different angles. On one hand, we should think of what our true talents, inherent assets and essential values are. On the other hand, we can figure out what is the maximum value we can create and bring to the world. Knowing and appreciating more of our own traits and assets will contribute to the process of exploring our potential in this dynamic world.
We are like standing at a crossroad with a little worry and much expectation and aspiration. Life is full of trade-offs and we live only once. After figuring out our “fundamental value” and “economic value”, I believe it will be easier for us to make the right choices confidently in the future.
