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Briefs
- CREC Research Finds Productivity Gains Still to Come Through Internet
- Undergraduate Admissions Policy Changed
- We've Got the Power
- Evening MBA Starts Strong Class
- Students Hear from Hong Kong
- UT Grad Promoted to Top Post at American Century
CREC Research Finds Productivity Gains
Still to Come Through Internet
A new study of how businesses use the Internet suggests there are still vast opportunities for financial and productivity gains that could power corporate profits and global economies for years to come, benefiting companies and consumers alike.
Sponsored by Dell, the study from the Center for Research in Electronic Commerce (CREC) at the McCombs School surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. and European businesses and found they have barely scratched the surface of the gains to be achieved from effectively using the Internet to become more efficient and productive. Results of the study, one of the largest and most in-depth ever conducted on e-business value, were released in September by the CREC during Dell’s annual DirectConnect event.
The researchers said the biggest benefits still can be obtained by increasing technology investments targeted at areas such as building online supplier relationships and redesigning business processes that are mostly invisible to consumers but have a major effect on quality, price and service.
The study found a “strong relationship between financial performance and e-business technology drivers” such as system integration, customer orientation and supplier-related processes and trading partner readiness to engage in electronic business.
“If businesses focus their technology investments in the right areas, there is no reason they can’t achieve significant productivity gains for the foreseeable future. These gains can power global economic performance for years to come,” said Dr. Anitesh Barua, a co-director of the study along with Dr. Andrew Whinston and Dr. Prabhudev Konana. For more information on the study, visit the CREC’s Website.
Undergraduate Admissions Policy Changed
Each of the past three years, the number of students being admitted into the McCombs School who were in the top 10 percent of their high school class has risen. By this fall, we reached 102 percent capacity with top 10 percent students. We accepted fewer than 20 out-of-state and private school students because there simply was no room for them. We did not accept any non-top 10 percent students. Because of this situation, the McCombs School of Business has instituted a new admissions policy for fall 2001: up to 75 percent of the class (approximately 900 students) will be admitted according to high school rank. All the top 1 percent students, then the top 2 percent, and so on, will be admitted, until the 75 percent mark is reached. We project the cutoff point will be between the 5-7 percent ranks. Students from non-ranking high schools, foreign, out-of-state, non-top 10 percent, and those who were not admitted into the first 75 percent of the class will be competing for the remaining 25 percent of the class (approximately 300 students).
There are a few important undergraduate admissions facts: The average SAT for fall 2000 was 1330, the average high school rank was 4.5 percent. All students had strong scores on essays and leadership. These three factors make up the competitive admissions process. The Office of Admissions makes all the decisions, and the McCombs School of Business sets the parameters. For more information, contact the Undergraduate Recruiting Office at 232-2744.
We've Got the Power
Austin
Power, a new nonprofit organization that was the brainstorm of a group of Texas MBA students, aims to connect Austin high-tech companies with students seeking internships or full-time jobs. Austin Power is already organizing happy hour events at local pubs, “power” lunches, a mentoring program, and company tours. The group held a first-ever Human Resources Summit in November, inviting HR personnel from Austin-area companies to campus to learn more about the MBA program and to facilitate access to students and the
Ford Career Center. Ian
Rosi, MBA 01 and the nonprofit’s managing director, hopes to expand the group to include graduate and undergraduate students pursing other types of degrees, such as law and library science.
For more information, visit the Austin Power website.
Evening MBA Starts Strong Class
The Texas Evening MBA Program (TEMBA) at the McCombs School of Business matriculated its first class this fall. With an average GMAT score of 660, an average GPA of 3.39, an average of 7 years of work experience, and an average age of 30, the evening class reflects the full-time MBA class in terms of academic quality, but is slightly older. The current class has 65
students, 12 percent of whom are women. TEMBA has begun accepting applications for fall ’01.
For more information e-mail temba@mccombs.utexas.edu, call (512) 475-6417, or visit the TEMBA website.
Students Hear from Hong Kong
Professor Kate Gillespie’s MBA class, Business in Emerging Markets, met in a roundtable with Jacqueline Ann Willis, the
Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs to the United States.
Representatives from the Austin business community and several University faculty members joined the students in a discussion of the Hong Kong economy and its future. Miss Willis talked about the transition of business and government since the handover to China in 1997 and how Hong Kong recovered from the Asian financial crisis in 1998 and 1999. Willis also talked about Hong Kong’s perspective on China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization and arising business opportunities. Willis is the most senior representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in North America.
UT Grad Promoted to Top Post at American Century
Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager C. Kim Goodwin, MBA 87, has been named co-chief investment officer (CIO) for American Century’s domestic growth equity discipline. Her new position is one of the top posts in the firm’s investment management area. Assets under management in the domestic growth area top $70 billion, approximately 60 percent of American Century’s total assets. An investment professional with 13 years of portfolio management experience, Goodwin shares the domestic growth equity CIO position with James Stowers III.
In her new role, Goodwin will oversee the teams responsible for the Growth, Select, Ultra, Vista,
Giftrust, Heritage, New Opportunities, Life Sciences and Technology funds, as well as other domestic growth investment vehicles. Goodwin is also a panelist on Wall
$treet Week with Louis Rukeyser.
American Century was recently selected as one of FORTUNE Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
