| |
| |
Upcoming Speakers |
| |
VIP Distinguished Speaker Series |
| |
 |
Keat Wilkins,
Co-founder and President,
Sense Corp, 10/10
More info |
| |
Business Ethics Speaker Series |
| |
 |
Scott Walsh,
Director, Environmental Defense,
10/6
More info |
| |
Upcoming Events |
| |
MBA Plus Program Pitch Party,
10/5
More info
MBA IM/OPS Challenge, 10/5-6
IBM Leading at the Edge of
Innovation Panel, 10/11
More info
|
U.S. Comptroller Says Public Concern is
Crucial to Deficit Reduction
By Andrea Ferdinand
While many Americans may not fret over the growing U.S.
deficit’s effect on their daily lives, U.S. Comptroller General
David Walker explained that for reform to
take place, the country needs its citizens to lead the rally for
change. “No change will come about unless the three most
powerful words in the constitution come alive: we the people,”
Walker said. Walker’s premonition was echoed by representatives
from the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation and the
Concord Coalition at a panel discussion on the government’s
growing fiscal debt held at the McCombs School Sept. 28.
Get the full story.
In the News: BBA Alum Creates
Alternative to Co-Op
Wall Street Journal, Sept. 25, 2006
During his time as a student at The University of Texas at
Austin, Lemuel Anaejionu, BBA ’04, was frustrated with
the textbook prices at the University Co-Op. Noticing that there
was very little competition in the Austin market, he decided to
start textbook company Grade A Books. The company sells used
textbooks at a kiosk near campus. Its chief strategy is to buy
used textbooks from students at a higher price than the Co-Op
and then sell them for 20 to 30 percent less than the university
bookstore. While Anaejionu no longer works for Grade A Books,
his business continues to operate and he maintains a majority
stake in the company.
Get the full story from the WSJ on page 7 of this link.
Berkeley Team Wins National Energy
Finance Challenge
By Andrea Ferdinand
 MBA
students from 15 top business schools received practical
experience in the rapidly growing energy industry this weekend.
The 15 teams competed in the McCombs School’s second annual
Energy Finance Challenge. Each team member assumed a role in a
corporate negotiating team for McKween, a fictional company
located in the imaginary island of Nirvana off the West African
coast. Until recent advancements in technology and the increased
need to meet rising energy demands, natural gas was an
underappreciated energy source in Nirvana. The recent discovery
of gas in the ground has revealed opportunities but also created
many challenges for the energy industry.
Get the full story.
Undergraduates Case Competition Winners
to Represent McCombs Acround the U.S.
By Andrea Ferdinand
Several teams competed last weekend in the McCombs School of
Business Undergraduate Case Competition. Members of the winning
team include Mark Rogers, BHP and finance senior;
Dietrich Schmidt, BHP and marketing senior; Haley Robison,
BHP and finance senior; and Paul Albrecht, PPA senior.
The team will represent the McCombs School at the Marshall Case
Competition at The University of Southern California. The second
place team will represent McCombs at the CIBER Case Challenge at
Ohio State University. The third place team will compete at the
International Business Challenge at The University of Texas at
Austin.
Loewenstein Discusses Value of Learning
from Examples
By Chantelle Wallace
Understanding the underlying principles in the examples you
encounter is key to successful learning, said Jeffrey Loewenstein, assistant professor of management at McCombs, in
his Faculty Research Speaker Series presentation Sept. 26. “If
you know how to better learn, you have a better shot at
organizational advancement, learning how your organization
works, performing better in it, communicating knowledge to
others and integrating the information with what you already
know,” Loewenstein said.
Get the full story.
Open the video clip.
Ter Hofstede Awarded First Undergraduate
Teaching Award
 Frenkel Ter Hofstede, associate professor of marketing,
received the McCombs Excellence in Teaching Award Sept. 29,
2006. The award, presented by Peter Wynne, Lockheed Martin’s
Director of Business Management Integration, was established
this year by an undergraduate student survey, which rated professors for the
2006 spring semester on a scale of one to five. Ter Hofstede
received fives from every student in his market research class.
“[Ter Hofstede] made a difference to a lot of students and they
admire his work,” Amit Anandwala, finance junior and UPO
Academics Committee chair, said.
Opinion: Konana Discusses
Affirmative Action in India’s Public Educations
Hindu (India), Sept. 30, 2006
Prabhudev Konana, associate professor of information,
risk, and operations management, writes about the current debate
in India regarding the inequities in India’s premier public
universities and the value of bringing diversity to those
institutions. Excerpt: “We need to recognise that diversity
provides ‘core educational’ value for students. If management
programmes are about creating future leaders, why not admit a
tiny fraction of students who come from rural India and have
demonstrated unmatched leadership, but cannot get through the
entrance examination? They may provide better insights into
challenges in rural India that are helpful in designing and
marketing products, or will inspire others on social
responsibility. But in our emotional debate, we ignore this core
value.”
Read the full op-ed.
In the News: McCombs MBA Alum
Alissa Bayer Records a Day in the Life for BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek Online, Oct. 2, 2006
In a recent journal for Business Week Online, Alissa Bayer,
MBA ’04, described a day in the life as founder and owner of
Austin day spa Milk + Honey. While at McCombs, Bayer
participated in the unique Venture Fellows Program, which
allowed her to work closely with a partner at a venture capital
firm as well as the director of the Austin Technology Incubator.
“I learned a tremendous amount about what sets apart successful
entrepreneurs from the aspiring, how to write an effective and
compelling business plan, and the importance of surrounding
yourself with the right supporting cast,” she said. “This
real-world exposure, coupled with my classes at McCombs, was a
fantastic combination.”
Get the full story.
In the News: Hartzell Shares His
Views on Las Manitas Controversy
KUT Radio, Sept. 29, 2006
 Las Manitas, a popular downtown Austin eatery, might be forced
to move from its current location on Congress Avenue. Marriott
International plans to take over the space in which the
restaurant is located, which prompted three Austin
City Council members to write Marriott a letter asking them to
rethink their position. Jay Hartzell, associate professor
of finance, weighed in on the issue. “At
some level this just seems like the free market at work,” he
said. “If you sign a lease in a building that you don’t own,
then you have to understand that you’re taking a risk that you
won’t be renewed, just as the person who owns the building is
taking a risk that the tenant will decide to move out.”
Listen to
Hartzell on KUT.
In the News: MBA Alum David
Whitworth Creates One-Stop Shop for Austin Apartments
Austin Business Journal, Oct. 2, 2006
David Whitworth, MBA’06, aids apartment-hunting Austinites
with his new Web site, smallplanetguide.com. It not only prices potential dwellings,
but describes their locations as well. “We want this to be the only
place someone needs to go, not just to find the right apartment
at the right price, but also in the neighborhood that feels like
home,” Whitworth said.
Get the full story.
McCombs School Job Postings:
Recent items:
See past issues of McCombs Weekly.
Want to unsubscribe? Faculty or staff
cannot unsubscribe from all-school communications on the
exchange server, but if you signed up to the listserv you may
unsubscribe by sending an e-mail to
listproc@lists.cc.utexas.edu
with the body text unsubscribe mccombsweekly. Do not put
your name or other information in the message, and be sure to
send your request from the e-mail address you used to subscribe
to the list.
Send comments to
communications@mccombs.utexas.edu. McCombs Weekly is a product of the
McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, Copyright ©
2006. All rights reserved. We respect your privacy and will not share email
addresses with outside parties.
|
|
