ALUMNI SUCCESSES

Earlier in her career, Harrington climbed the corporate ladder in companies including Benjamin Moore. She made a conscious decision to earn an MBA to build her competency and credibility in business strategy.

“After September 11, I was ready to face the fact that I’d been a frustrated entrepreneur my entire life and that the time to act was now,” she says. “I knew I could apply the business tools I was learning in the program to get a business off the ground.”

Executive MBA courses, such as valuation, took on new meaning after her company acquired The Color Association of the U.S.

“In a larger corporation, you have a CFO to value assets. As an entrepreneur, you’re not only the CFO but the accountant, the strategist, the marketer, the human resources manager. You start small, and if all goes well, you grow fast.”

Leslie’s client roster ranges from companies in the pharmaceutical industry to American Express and Procter & Gamble.  Procter & Gamble hired her firm to direct the color strategy for a new product launch following her participation in a focus group.

“Customers may make a purchase based on ‘liking it,’ but strategic decisions should not be based or evaluated on a consumer’s 'like' factor,” she says. “Rather, the goal is to understand what the underlying triggers are that companies need to tap to achieve the ‘I like it’ response. That’s the value we provide to our clients.”

Leslie is steadily building awareness of the business value of color, generating coverage in The New Yorker and Oprah Magazine and on The Today Show.

“I surpassed the five-year mark, which is a major milestone for a start-up. For me, success is about reputation,” says Harrington. “Today, I have Fortune 500 companies knocking on my door to advise them on how to use color to build their businesses.”

Tsinghua University
The second class of Tsinghua University's post-Executive MBA Program for its alumni in Shanxi Province, central China, began June 6.

The program features top scholars in various fields of traditional Chinese study and attempts to help its participants reflect on their business practices from social, historical, and philosophical perspectives. Tsinghua successfully offered the first class last year.

Alumni associations of Tsinghua Executive MBA Program throughout China hosted seven modules on topics like Confucianism, Buddhism Taoism, Yi Ching, military strategies, traditional Chinese medicine, and Chinese history. This innovative program creates a further networking opportunity for Tsinghua Executive MBA alumni from different cohorts and also greatly enhances bonding between the school and its alumni.

University of Houston
The University of Houston reports on three recent alumni success stories.

May 2008 graduates Kuyler Doyle and Robert Copenhaver have accepted new positions with the management consulting firm Campbell Alliance. Doyle is working in Los Angeles in the firm's brand management practice area, and Rob is based in the Parsippany, N.J. office working in the business development practice area.

Current student Robert Ledesma has been appointed to the position of OilSands Category Manager, Maintenance Services, with Shell Canada in Calgary.

GLOBAL NEWS

Columbia University and London Business School
A partnership between Columbia Business School and London Business School, EMBA-Global is expanding to Asia as a result of a new collaboration with Hong Kong University.

The 20-month EMBA–Global Asia will be the first and only program to offer learning and networking opportunities in the three cities that most drive global business: New York, London, and Hong Kong.

The first class of EMBA-Global Asia begins in May 2009. The program targets globally focused executives and managers primarily based in Asia who seek to deepen their understanding of both Western and Eastern business perspectives.

When they complete the program, students will receive a joint MBA degree from the University of Hong Kong, Columbia University, and London Business School.

“This new program will give students the opportunity to benefit from everything EMBA-Global offers – access to global networks, to world-renowned faculties, exceptional alumni networks, and world business capitals – plus the stimulating and profoundly important markets of Hong Kong and Shanghai,” says London Business School Dean Robin Buchanan. “It will be a truly unparalleled global business education. We are delighted to be working with Columbia and Hong Kong University on this exciting initiative.”

Glenn Hubbard, Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics and dean of Columbia Business School, agrees.

“With our partners at London Business School, Columbia is proud to bring EMBA-Global’s expertise and its unequalled learning experience to the region,” he says. “The expansion of EMBA-Global to Asia furthers the Columbia Business School mission of bridging academic theory and real-world practice by connecting the world’s best business faculty with business leaders and students on a worldwide scale.”

In 2001, Columbia Business School and London Business School launched the EMBA-Global in London and New York. From its first year, the program exceeded student intake targets and is now rated among the top four in the world by the Financial Times. 

The London Business School also recently began the Dubai-London EMBA Program. Demand for the second class, which begins in September 2008, has been so strong that the school will offer a second cohort in January 2009.

SDA Bocconi
More than 20 business schools and 400 participants throughout the world will take part in the MBA’s Cup Mediterranean Regatta and Conference, set for Sept. 18-21 at Santa Margherita and Portofino, the heart of Golfo del Tigullio, one of the most exclusive areas of prestigious Riviera Ligure.

The SDA Bocconi Sailing Club and Yacht Club Italiano organize the event, with the support of BMW, Deloitte, and Sant’Andrea (Gabetti Group) as sponsors.

The event combines three exciting regattas days, together with a round table where guests from some of the most influential industrial and financial institutions discuss significant financial and economic international issues and share experiences.

Founded in 2001, SDA Bocconi Sailing Club is an initiative of MBA students to integrate management and sport activities. Founded in Genoa at the end of the 18th century, the Yacht Club Italiano organizes prestigious classic regattas in the Mediterranean Sea every year, and today counts 1,200 members and 295 yachts.

The following business schools will attend the event: Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, London Business School, Wharton, NYU Stern, INSEAD, IESE, Instituto de Empresa, Athens University of Economics and Business, Duke University, Moscow State University, IPADE, RSM Erasmus University, Tuck, University of British Columbia Sauder, Warwick, and Otto Beisheim School of Management.

University of Minnesota
For the third time, the China Executive MBA Program, a collaborative effort between the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and Lingnan (University) College of Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China), was ranked the No. 1 Joint Executive MBA Program in China.

More than 10 Chinese media organizations including Brand Times International, a major media conglomerate in China, and EMBA times, a flagship online portal for Executive MBA Programs in China, performed the 2008 ranking of the most influential Executive MBA Programs in China.

The organizations based their rankings on market reputation, evaluations from graduates, and operational characteristics, as well as the voting rates on www.EMBAtimes.com. The Carlson School’s China Executive MBA Program also received first place awards for Top Executive MBA Program with Global Vision and Top Executive MBA Program Highly Ranked by Graduates.

MILESTONES

RSM Erasmus University
The Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) at Erasmus University reported the following milestones.

• The Peduli Anak Foundation, led by MBA alumnus Bjorn Dudok van Heel, launched the SmartKid Program, which offers highly gifted children in Indonesia the opportunity to attend private school.
  
  
• McKinsey Consulting and RSM are joining forces to offer 25 MBA students from RSM firsthand experience in a consulting environment. In spring 2009, teams of students will work with McKinsey consultants and staff to develop solutions to a real-life business issue.
  
  
• OneMBA students met their fellow students from partner schools recently to complete their Asian residency, which took place in India and China. The participants visited several local national and multinational companies, including Suzuki and Honda in India, as well as B&C (China) Investment Company and Volkswagen in Shanghai. Other One MBA residencies involve trips to North America, Europe, and Latin America.
  
  
• RSM received the TeamMBA Award for outstanding community service at the annual conference of the Graduate Management Admission Council in Chicago. The RSM Class of 2008 established the RSM International Charity Foundation to support the education of underprivileged children.

Rollins College
José A. Fajardo, president and CEO of WMFE, the group of public broadcasting stations for the greater Orlando area, and a director on the National Public Radio (NPR) Board of Directors, received the 2008 Martin Bell Scholarship from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College. Bell will attend the Crummer Corporate MBA Program.

"At this time when technology and broadcasting are drastically changing and the industry is more competitive than ever, I need all of the latest best business practices and philanthropic know-how associated with the Rollins MBA,” Fajardo said. “In addition, the Rollins MBA Program is structured to meet my needs as an executive, allowing me to apply what I learn in class to business challenges I face the very next day."

In partnership with the school’s Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership Center, the Crummer Graduate School of Business annually provides funds for the Martin Bell Scholarship, which supports a senior-level executive of a non-profit organization.

The scholarship was established in 1988 in honor of Dr. Martin L. Bell, former director of the Rollins Executive MBA Program, now known as the Corporate MBA. Bell was a passionate advocate of MBA graduates using their skills to benefit charitable organizations.

San Francisco State University
The Executive MBA Program at San Francisco State University welcomed Jeffrey Chun as assistant director for student services. Chun recently received his master’s degree from the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education.

Thunderbird Global School of Management
In June, the third cohort of LG Electronics managers graduated with customized MBAs from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Thunderbird developed the custom program exclusively for LG in Seoul, South Korea. About 150 of LG’s top managers and engineers will participate in the multi-year, multimillion-dollar program. The first class graduated in June 2006.

“The program has been a great success due to the quality of candidates, faculty, and administration at both LG Electronics and Thunderbird, as well as the commitment and shared vision of the two organizations,” says Thunderbird Provost Robert Widing.

Also this summer, three Executive MBA students at Thunderbird turned a class project into a real-world business venture.

Amol Khade and his partners, Govind Arora and Venkat Nallapati, with venture capital support from India Plaza, opened an Indian restaurant, The Dhabo, in Tempe, Ariz. The classmates started exploring the concept for the restaurant during an entrepreneurship class that was taught by Steven Stralser, Thunderbird professor.

“In the process of writing a business plan for the class, they really saw the opportunity to make it happen,” Stralser says. “It demonstrates that they’re getting applied skills with the Executive MBA.”

University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (UA), in conjunction with UA Huntsville, officially launched the new UA Executive MBA- Huntsville Program with an orientation on July 11. The inaugural Huntsville class represents various industries including manufacturing, law, engineering, defense, utilities, and telecommunications.

The new location results from a cooperative agreement between the University of Alabama and UA-Huntsville. Students will receive a degree from the University of Alabama and attend classes on the UA-Huntsville campus, with faculty from both universities teaching.

University of Minnesota
Kathryn Carlson, assistant dean for MBA Programs at the Carlson School of Management, recently announced the hiring of Ann Lowry as director of leadership development and career coaching in the Graduate Business Career Center at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

Lowry will lead all career coaching, leadership development, and MBA study group management for the Executive MBA, and Full- and Part-Time MBA Programs.  She brings many years of experience as an educator, educational leader, and business consultant.

University of New Hampshire
George Abraham recently retired from the University of New Hampshire after more than 28 years of service and 23 years as director of Graduate and Executive Programs at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.  

A founding member of the Executive MBA Council, Abraham is widely respected as a longtime pioneer and champion of graduate executive education.  Those who know him also appreciate his rare blend of tenacity and compassion as he pushed the envelope toward good and constructive ends.  Abraham will continue to work on a consulting basis to expand the school’s Executive Development Programs.  

University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee announced the following staff additions, changes, and milestones:

• Kate Atchley, Executive MBA faculty member and director of the college's leadership development program, was named as head of the Executive MBA Program.
  
  
• Bruce Behn, Ergen Professor in Business, appeared as a panelist at the January 2008 meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession's Subcommittee on Human Capital at the U.S. Department of Treasury. The committee is considering and developing recommendations relating to the sustainability of the auditing profession.
  
  
• Amy Cathey, former director of the Executive MBA Program, recently became director of the Full-Time MBA Program. She will remain a core faculty member in the college's Executive MBA Program. As part of this move, the Full-Time MBA Program will become part of the Center for Executive Education, which houses the college's Executive MBA Programs.
  
  
• Joe Carcello, Executive MBA faculty member and Ernst & Young Professor in Accounting, received the Beta Alpha Psi Business Professional of the Year award. The award recognizes the impact of recipients on the accounting profession in the areas of education, industry and government, and public accounting. Carcello won for education. He also testified before the U.S. Treasury Committee about the human capital challenges that face the public company auditing profession in December 2007.
  
  
• Dave Ecklund joined the college as director of the Global Supply Chain Executive MBA, which will debut in 2010.  The program recognizes the unique supply chain challenges that companies must address to pursue global business opportunities. Using faculty with extensive academic, industry, and cultural experiences – and meeting in different locations around the world – this program will immerse executives in the global business, supply chain, leadership, and cultural issues that are fundamental to success in the global marketplace.
  
  
• John (Tom) Mentzer, Executive MBA faculty member and Bruce Chair of Excellence, received the prestigious Berkman Distinguished Service Award from the Academy of Marketing Science. The award recognizes a career of service to marketing.
  
  
• Matt Myers, Nestle USA Professor of Marketing, became interim head of the Department of Marketing and Logistics. Myers also is director of the college's Global Business Institute and coordinates the college's Executive MBA global curriculum.  
  
  
• Michael Lane Morris, Ph.D., CFLE, Executive MBA faculty member and human resource development program director, has became the ninth president of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), the preeminent academic professional organization in the field of human resource development.
  
  
• Donde Plowman, Executive MBA faculty member and Faskerud Professor of Strategic Management, has become the interim head of the Department of Management.
  
  
• Mike Stahl, director of the Physician Executive MBA Program, was honored as the Tennessee Communication Association's 2007 Communicator of the Year, the first-ever recipient from the Knoxville campus.
  
  
• Ted Stank, Dove Professor of Logistics and Transportation, became the interim associate dean for academic programs. He also will teach in Global Supply Chain Executive MBA.

University of Texas at Austin
Kari Gaukler recently joined the Executive MBA Program at the University of Texas at Austin as student affairs coordinator.

Xavier University
The Xavier University Executive MBA Program recently welcomed Holly Banner as the new program assistant for the Executive MBA Program. She joins the Executive MBA office at Xavier University after recently completing her undergraduate degree at Xavier. She manages the daily operations of the program and assists with recruiting and special events for the Executive MBA Program.

PROGRAM INNOVATIONS

Arizona State University
Students in the W. P. Carey MBA – Executive Program at Arizona State University spent time with Arizona legislators, lobbyists, and special interest group representatives recently as part of a Business and Public Policy course at the State Capitol, which also included sessions in Washington, D.C.

The Arizona component included sessions with senators and representatives from the State Legislature as well as staff members from the Governor’s office and advocates for special interest groups. Discussions focused on the role of business in the legislative process and included a case study and budget simulation.

“As a businessman, (I learned that) we quietly sit and watch laws be passed by the Legislature, and don’t do anything,” says Todd Wood, Executive MBA student and bakery owner. “This has taught me that I’ve got to be involved.”

During the Washington component, students met with Arizona legislators including U.S. Senator Jon Kyl and U.S. Representatives Ed Pastor and Jeff Flake, as well as with officials from the executive branch, special interest group representatives, and the media. They traveled to sites around Washington, D.C., including Capitol Hill and the National Press Club.

 “This course helps our Executive MBAs include political considerations in their strategic thinking as managers,” said Gerry Keim, associate dean for MBA programs and the course faculty leader. “They learn that democracy is not a spectator sport and it works best when more people participate.”

In addition, alumni of the W. P. Carey MBA – Executive Program at Arizona State University recently took part in a unique experience, trading their business suits for teachers’ caps as they taught global business concepts to elementary school children through the Junior Achievement volunteer organization.

Sixteen Executive MBA Program alumni and students participated in Junior Achievement Day at Kyrene de los Ninos Elementary School in Tempe, Ariz. As part of Junior Achievement Day, community volunteers, who are trained by the organization, are matched with an elementary classroom to facilitate fun and educational lessons about economics and finance.

“Even at a kindergarten level, it is important for children to receive exposure to the business world in general, to learn concepts of earning money and savings for future rewards,” said Mariyah Badani, a 2007 alumna of the W. P. Carey MBA – Executive Program and director of strategic initiatives for UMR, UnitedHealth Group.

“This is a two-way learning experience. As executives, we get to see firsthand what the pool of employees of the future will look like, what they are exposed to in terms of technology and skill, and what their expectations will be of the workplace in the future,” said Badani.

Loyola College in Maryland
This fall, second-year students in Loyola College in Maryland’s Executive MBA Programs will bring two compelling business cases to life through an innovative and integrative field study.

Flying Southwest Airlines, the cohort first will observe the case points of the Baltimore turnaround. They then will embark on customized tours of Underground Disney, Main Street Disney, and the Textile Service Department, made possible through the Disney Institute.

The group also will be exposed to the operations side of “merchantainment”—Disney’s efforts to encourage each property to sponsor an entertainment event. Through pre-trip class sessions, tailored field experiences, and reflection and group activities once back on campus, the students will be encouraged to integrate the concepts of operations, marketing, and finance into one strategic perspective. The experience also offers an opportunity for students who work outside of manufacturing to view a complex process, such as dealing 60,000 pounds of laundry every day, and consider ways to improve it.

“This is just the kind of integrated, creative approach to executive learning that gives our students such a competitive edge," says Karyl Leggio, new dean of Loyola’s Sellinger School. "Taking a case study and literally bringing it to life provides our executive students the opportunity to address a business issue in a potentially unrelated area to the students' current organizational responsibilities yet translate the learning into solid skills to bring back to their companies.”