I always knew that I wanted to write news stories. I started a stapled-together newspaper in second grade. I edited my high school newspaper and anchored our college news show, IU News Forum. What I’ve learned after nearly a decade as a television news reporter is that the subjects in my stories mean more to me than having my name on the byline.
I joined the IU Kelley Indianapolis family in late March as the new Assistant Director of Communications and Media Relations. As an alum of IU Bloomington’s Ernie Pyle School of Journalism, I’m thrilled to make my transition from journalist to communications writer within the IUPUI family. My husband, Seth, is Kelley alum, so I know first-hand how valuable that name recognition is once you graduate.
People always ask me how I could leave television news. “It must be so exciting,” they say. And the world of broadcast news does have its merits: I interviewed then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, Mrs. Obama and then-Vice Presidential hopeful Joe Biden. I was granted access to fascinating factories and thrilling airplane rides, plus I met everyday people who made a difference. I loved covering news on university campuses such as Kent State, Youngstown State and Northern Michigan Universities. But I felt like something was missing. I’d spend a day on a story (sometimes a very boring one!), and then move on. It was something different every day, but it only scratched the surface of each topic. I wanted to work more in-depth on something I cared about; something on which I could have a biased opinion for once.
That’s why the communications job here at Kelley Indianapolis is perfect. It gives me a chance to meet and promote some of the most inspiring, accomplished students I’ve ever known, while also returning home to Indiana. I can continue to fulfill my love of writing stories while also using my years of reporting experience to assist the media in covering what’s happening here. There’s plenty of room at the table for schools to be publicly recognized; Kelley deserves its place at the top.
I know that a Kelley degree is valuable and noteworthy. I understand how much weight it carries on my husband’s resume and vicariously I know how it feels for a student to work hard and finally complete I-Core! Just listening to the accomplishments by Kelley students at the Scholarships and Awards Breakfast last month impressed and motivated me to help tell the stories of the young people here who achieve so much. I’m inspired by two recent stories: Kelley grad Assoumaou Mayaki, who plans to do work in microfinance development for struggling women in Niger, and Evening MBA graduate Manoj Rana, who survived a deadly house fire with 95 percent burns to his body, and went on to earn his degree. These are stories I love to tell.
There is no shortage of impressive and newsworthy students, faculty and staff here at Kelley Indianapolis. I look forward to meeting you all and telling your stories. Please contact me at spwinter@iupui.edu with anything interesting you notice at Kelley.
Commencement Celebration Week by Carly Griffin, Class of 2012
Commencement Celebration Week is upon us. For me, that means there is literally only one week left before I am a proud graduate of the Kelley School of Business. This week of celebration is a time to show seniors appreciation for all of their hard work and dedication. I personally know that the faculty and staff are equally as proud to see the graduating seniors walk across the stage at commencement to their future success. So this week is truly a time for celebration all around.
Yesterday, Kelley provided breakfast and coffee to students who were working hard to prepare for finals. Pizza will be available to those evening MBA students who come to campus after a hard day’s work. Students will also be celebrating the end of the semester in the courtyard with Kelley’s annual “Backyard Bash”, as well as applauding achievement at the Scholarship and Awards Breakfast for outstanding students.
The overall idea of this week is centered on the idea of leaving a legacy. What are the things that you want to be remembered for during your time at Kelley? I know for a fact that I want my legacy to be making sure that students in the Kelley School get the most out of their education, especially on the Indianapolis campus. We have an entire city’s worth of resources at our fingertips, and it is vital for students to be connected in a way that they are able to tap into such valuable resources. I also want my fellow students to understand the full meaning of the Kelley brand. Other than a graduate of the school we attend who ran Steak-N-Shake, who exactly was Ed Kelley? Why was he so significant to the business world, and how did he manage to impact the business world on such a large scale? Ed Kelley not only contributed multitudes of work to the food industry, but went forward to give back to the school that gave him his foundational business education.
This is the kind of legacy that I want to leave. I want to be well respected and trusted in my community. IUPUI and the Kelley School of Business have helped me to get started.
Most organizations have them, and the names by which they call themselves vary. Their purpose, however, is the same—to advise the chief administrator. The Kelley Evening MBA Student Advisory Board (SAB), formerly known as the Evening MBA Association, is a direct link to the faculty, providing MBA students an opportunity to contribute to the growth of the program.
Zach Wills (@zwills93) serves as the Evening MBA SAB president. He says the group’s primary goals are 1) to provide student feedback to the Kelley Indianapolis administration and 2) to build community among Evening MBA students and faculty.
Just weeks into his time as president, Wills has organized opportunities for both. The SAB is coordinating regular meetings and discussions with Associate Dean Phil Cochran and Evening MBA Faculty Chair Steve Jones. Last weekend, the board hosted a work-day with Second Helpings and prepared 60 pounds of food for the Indianapolis community.
Evening MBA students, faculty and alumni may connect with the SAB via the group’s LinkedIn page.
As I flipped channels during halftime of the IU/Kentucky basketball game on Friday night, I was overwhelmed by a barrage of fitness infomercials. Each featured real people achieving real results in just 90 days or as little as 20 minutes a day. I’m not sure why, but I started thinking about the real people who graduate from Kelley Indianapolis and the real successes they find in central Indiana and, frankly, any place they want to be.
Jaime Lira, a 2010 alumna of the Kelley Evening MBA program, recently shared her own self-improvement journey. Hers took considerably more than 90 days (actually, 2-1/2 years) and resulted in a career change and a new attitude to “fill the bucket.” Discover why Jaime says filling the bucket is vital for real people seeking real results.
Edward De Bono is a business management consultant whose primary focus is in fostering creativity in businesses and indivduals. To anyone interested in creative thinking (and everyone should be), I would highly recommend both "Lateral Thinking" and "Six Thinking Hats" as seminal works on purposefully creative thinking.
De Bono would appreciate the transformation going on in the Kelley Evening MBA program. In order to foster creativity, one of the techniques that he suggests is to examine a process, but purposefully omit a key part of it. That is, as a thought experiment, he would we look at the educational process and ask, "How could we have college courses without textbooks?" Then you would spend time coming up with alternative ways to accomplish the educational mission without something that is considered central to the current process. This creative pursuit may lead to a better and more creative way of teaching.
While we are not abolishing textbooks, the MBA program has begun a transformation of its core classes by reducing the number of classroom hours in half. A 1.5 credit hour course meets only 4 nights over an 8 week period. As a professor of these courses, I have had to make some major adjustments to how I teach.
For the last six months, I have asked myself, "Why do I teach in this way?" and "Why do students need to be in the same room with me to learn this material?" This self-reflection and analysis has led to an adjustment in every part of the curriculum of my courses. I now rely on videos, podcasts, and exercises to engage my students much more strongly outside of class. While the number of hours we meet has decreased, the content and learning have remained strong.
Creativity doesn't just come from sitting around and trying to think up great ideas. Rather, there is a process, and one technique is to restrict what we already do. By restricting one aspect of my class (the number of times we meet), I have been forced to creatively come up with a different way of teaching.
And it is one that I believe will improve the educational experience of our Kelley Indianapolis MBAs. When all of the faculty have gone through this process, we will have dramatically improved the overall curriculum of one of the top part-time MBA programs in the country.
De Bono would have predicted it.
While I wish I had an attention grabbing, thought provoking, and mind blowing first sentence to my introductory blog career, I am ashamed to admit that I am suffering from something quite common in my department: stress.
First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nate Canada and I am the latest of bloggers for the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis. I graduated from the Kelley School with a Human Resources Management Degree and will most likely be pursuing an Entrepreneurship MBA in the future. I'm quite excited to interact with you, my reader, in the upcoming months of blog posts by yours truly.
A little bit more about myself, I am currently the youngest member of the Compliance and Ethics department of a local, Hoosier owned and operated corporation. While I realize this has nothing to do with my degree in Human Resources, I've come to understand that great personal and professional insight can be gleaned from any and all work experience in business.
One such experience relates to my earlier problem of stress. Anytime a company espouses and emphasizes ethics in the workplace, stress is bound to be nearby. The right way is not always the easiest and every person can relate to that truth. To make my job a little bit more difficult, I am a detail-oriented, perfectionist who struggles with beating myself up mentally when I make any sort of error.
Thankfully, I've been blessed to have picked up a few tips on dealing with stress from someone much wiser than myself: my boss. (In unrelated news, I am hoping to get a raise soon.) Seeing as we all deal with stress on a daily basis in some way or another, I thought I would share three suggestions that our team uses to deal with stress.
- Prioritization - Each morning, our team huddles up and explains the top three tasks we will be working on for the day. I've found this to be incredibly helpful, especially when unexpected work gets piled on. Keeping your focus on the big picture makes filling in the details much easier.
- Exercise - Nothing helps me blow off steam like an intense workout at the gym. I know this may seem cliche or even unexpected from a business related blog but I consider all areas of my life to be business related. The company I work for emphasizes the idea that an employee should work harder on yourself than you do on your job. I would agree wholeheartedly that we become better employees as we become better people. My work team shares insight on diet, nutrition, and makes sure each team member does not have any photos displaying our physique. Feeling the strain at work? Hit the gym.
- "The Little Things" - One of the favorite movies among my co-workers is Zombieland, which reminds us about, "Rule 32: Enjoy the little things." One of these "little things" that our work team uses to relax is basketball. Several of us have mini-basketball hoops from Dave and Busters that are often used after an intense phone call, an unexpected email, or worrisome letter. I can't tell you how good it feels pull off a 360 slam dunk after a rough day at the office.
While I'm sure stress will always be a part of life, hopefully these tips and helpful reminders on dealing with the strain can be of use in both the personal and professional arenas of life.
Do you have any ways to keep stress at bay during the work day or at home? Feel free to share what works for you!
If you'd like to keep up with me outside of my blog posts, I can be followed at NCanadaWeTrust on Twitter. [Warning:Topics range from how great Kelley Indianapolis is to how much I despise Katherine Heigl films.] I am incredibly excited about this blogging journey and hope you'll stick around to see where it leads.
-Nate
From Kelley Indianapolis' Marc Lane, JD/MBA studentAs the turn of the year presents me with new resolutions, career ambitions, and life challenges, I look ahead to the mountainous range of lofty ambitions I’ve set with promise, vigor, and even a bit of reserved apprehension. My journey these first few weeks begins, as past year’s journeys have, seemingly productive and positive, with the freshness of youthful purpose. But, each step towards a mountain presents a new perspective, a closer look; each goal becomes a bit more daunting and the mountain a bit taller. I’ve faced this realization in the past, and have come to know it well. Each year, its passion meets with demoralizing demise where reachable hill tops have become the Himalayan Summit.
While this illustration might seem embellished, I ask you to consider carefully the expectations and goals you’ve set for yourself, your significant others, and those within your reach at work. Personally, I’ve gained much through carefully considering my own abilities and managing expectations. However, I do not wish to quell the human spirit, to tread on the dreams of those passionate enough to challenge the mountains, the lofty goals we dream of achieving. My goal is only to provide an alternative perspective.
In my youth, my career goals often emulated the depiction presented above. Through experience I’ve gained a great appreciation for the value of meeting small goals, and an understanding that lofty ambitions always require a thousand steps in between departure and reaching the summit. Why do we so often overlook the small successes we achieve? These successes are like footholds in the mountainside; they are the foundations upon which we stand to take the next step towards the peak, towards our ultimate ends. Without recognizing and appreciating these small gains and the realization of progress in the midst of various struggles and minor defeats we lose perspective of where we’ve come from. We focus only on the distance between our current position and the lofty goals we’ve set. And, in time the negatives begin to weigh upon us; breaking us down.
Whether your goal is to become a CEO, president, the top sales person on your team, a better husband/wife, a better father/mother, a better friend, or even a better you, this practice remains equally invaluable. Dismantle lofty goals into logical, rational and reachable stepping stones. Develop an understanding of why each step is important, and celebrate the successes of reaching smaller mountain tops. I promise, you’ll come to find the road less daunting and in the end you’ll look back upon your journey with a greater appreciation for what you’ve accomplished.
Recommended reading: The Progress Principle; Leadership and Self-Deception; The Leadership Challenge; Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
I expected to use the skills I've acquired through four years of study in a new job. I hadn't expected these very skills to be so critical in the application process.
Three months ago, I applied for a job with Robert Bosch, LLC, the U.S. subsidiary of the German manufacturing giant. I first discovered the job on the Kelley Careers website, an incredible resource of job, internship, and interview postings open to all Kelley students. The job, very nearly my dream job, is a 24-month rotational finance development program called the Professional Development Program. Through four six-month rotations, the position allows the trainee to experience different functional roles in finance (cost accounting, product forecasting, internal auditing, etc.) while working in different regions and with different teams. I saw the job as an amazing opportunity to gain exposure to different functional roles before finding the optimal fit as well as a chance to see more of the country. With the resume and cover letter I'd created with help from the Career Placement office, I applied for the position. Like applying to a "reach" school, I had hope but little confidence.
A few weeks later, I was contacted by Bosch to set up an initial telephone interview. In addition to standard background questions, the interview was primarily behavioral-based. For those unfamiliar with the concept, behavioral-based interviewing seeks to understand the applicant by asking for examples from work and school of specific events and qualities. I had thought Kelley's insistence on practicing and role-playing answers to behavioral-based questions to be a tad excessive. I'm very glad that I was wrong. I answered maybe a half-dozen questions constructed as: "Tell me about a time that you did [something]" or "Tell me about a time you demonstrated [a quality]." The time spent in class practicing answers to questions very similar to this was immeasurably valuable.
A few days later, I was invited to complete the next phase of the interview process: a finance case study. This is truly where I appreciated my education at Kelley Indianapolis. In I-Core, the integrative core classes when students take Finance, Operations, and Marketing together, I completed what seemed, at the time, to be an endless series of financial case studies. I lived and breathed in Excel for months, and I resented it. Now, serving as the gatekeeper to my dream job, I found myself staring down a case very similar to those my team and I had completed in the introductory financial management class. Scenario testing and cash flow analysis, concepts I had never even heard of prior to college, were the basis of my deliverable. So much of what we do in higher-level courses at Kelley is case-based. Not only does it allow us to learn from the real world, the skills we gain are incredibly applicable.
I met with my financial management professor and shared what I'd prepared. He made suggestions and provided the kind of mentorship and faculty insights that I've come to value from my Kelley instructors. Then, I submitted the case and waited.
A few weeks later, I received word that I'd made it to the final round. Bosch would be flying me out to Farmington Hills, Michigan to interview and present my case. The PowerPoint presentation skills I'd developed in many of my Kelley classes would be a major factor in whether I was able to attain the job I so dearly wanted.
The flexibility of my professors was invaluable in making preparations to fly to Michigan. Falling as it did the week before exams, the interview conflicted with a number of assignments and presentations in my courses. With enough notice and flexibility, however, all of my instructors were willing to work with me to ensure that I could both complete my assignments and make it to Michigan. Without their support, I would never have been able to get the job.
My time in Farmington Hills is nearly a blur. I was impressed by the quality of the other applicants, both undergraduates and MBA candidates, but working with the bright and talented students at Kelley had prepared me and I did not feel overly intimidated. A series of interviews preceded the presentation of my case study. I believe it was my case study presentation which truly set me apart. Rather than focusing strictly on academic concerns, finance education at Kelley mixes theory and practical application. My ability to focus on pragmatic concerns was appealing to the working professionals evaluating my work.
The final aspect of the interview process was a smaller case study, but built as a group assignment. Two other candidates and I had twenty-five minutes to read and present a mini-case. Five or six company representatives, in HR, finance, and other disciplines, watched and evaluated both how we worked together and what we ultimately presented. I've heard students complain that too many classes at Kelley Indianapolis involve group work. As I sat down with two strangers to read and present the finance case, I silently thanked every single one of my past group members for the experiences I'd had.
I returned to Indianapolis excited and hopeful, but set thoughts of Bosch aside as I entered final exams. A week later, I received the call. I'd gotten the job.
It's so easy to take for granted everything we learn through our years at Kelley Indianapolis. Attending one of the top 10 business schools is a privilege, but it's more than a sense of honor and accomplishment. The education I've received at Kelly has prepared me in ways I never realized for what I hope and expect to be a bright and exciting future.
Usually when you come to the Kelly BizBlog, you read about Kelley careers or other aspects of the Indianapolis business school degree. I, myself, completed the evening MBA program. But it's Christmas time, and I'm using my forum this week to talk about my efforts to shop local for all my holiday gifts.
After two days of rollicking success in my
local Christmas shopping adventure, I was on top of the world. On the third day, however, is when I first ran into some of the problems with patronizing non-chains: the return policy.
I headed back to downtown Carmel to check out the clothing shops for the women on my list. Most of the women on my list live an hour away in Muncie, and I don't normally shop with them. So, while I do have a general sense of their style from seeing what they wear, I don't really know their sizes.
Over the course of the morning, I visited four clothing shops. And each place, I found myself faced with the same problems:
- I see people in Carmel wearing these styles, but they're a bit too fancy for most folks in the highly industrial town of Muncie. Bonus points for catering to the extremely local tastes, but not very helpful to me as I'm trying to shop for people an hour away.
- The return policies aren't conducive to taking a chance on something. One sign I saw said, "No returns. Exchanges only within 30 days." If I'm going to buy a present from a place with a sign like that, I'd better be darn sure that the recipient will be able to find something they like there, and fast!
- The lack of other outlets means that my relatives in Muncie would have to drive down to Carmel to make their exchanges, and they'd have to do it within a 30-day window when people are generally shopped out and not feeling like trekking across the state for a sweater.
I nearly purchased a candle, but eventually decided to just call it a loss and head home. I was bummin'. Another day closer to Christmas, an no one checked off my list.
Part 2A few hours later, I decided to strike out again and give it another try. This time I headed to the Clay Terrace Mall.
There I discovered a local stationery shop called
Oliver's Twist.
It featured a
3/50 Project sign on the window, which I later learned is a designation of local businesses. I would check out the website later to get ideas for day 4.
At Oliver's Twist, I found a very cute recipe box and matching pen for one of my sisters-in-law, as well as some wrapping paper. Now I could check another person off my list (down to 9) and head home to do more research. It's getting down to the wire, and there's still an awful lot of people to shop for!
In November, I had the privilege of traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam to discuss how IUPUI and Vietnam National University (VNU) can create collaborations to benefit both universities. Earlier in the year, we had briefly met with several representatives of VNU when they had visited IUPUI. It was a very good trip and I enjoyed meeting with the university faculty and leaders. I learned a great deal about Vietnam and its emerging economy. I also presented how students from Vietnam could take advantage of many of the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis programs, including our undergraduate program, Master of Science in accounting, and MBA degree for their students looking for opportunities to expand on their international business school programs
In addition to meeting with university representatives, I had the opportunity to tour a bit of the country. One of the most beautiful places in Vietnam is Halong Bay. It is located about 3 yours from Hanoi and we traveled to see Halong Bay when we had an open day. Halong Bay is one of the most beautiful areas I have had the fortune to visit http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/ The limestone islands jut out of the ocean forming majestic mountains that are an amazing site. While visiting, we had a delicious meal of fresh seafood from the fishing village.
Folk tales tell that dragons descended from heaven to help the local people fend off invaders. The dragons liked the people so much that they stayed in Halong Bay as the mountains that we see jutting from the ocean. The Bay is also made famous by a cave, referred to as James Bond caver, where a scene from Tomorrow Never Dies was taped.
While pictures never do justice to the true beauty of a place, I hope you enjoy the following
The Praxis Strategy Group this week revealed the results of a study that showed Indianapolis as being the 11th Best Place for High Tech Growth.
Here's how the rankings were determined, according to
a blog post that appears on NewGeography.com
To determine the best cities for high-tech jobs, we looked at the latest high-tech employment data collected by
EMSI, an economic modeling firm. The
Praxis Strategy Group‘s Mark Schill charted those areas that have gained the most high-tech manufacturing, software and services jobs over the past 10 years, equally weighting the last five years and the last two. We also included measures of concentration of tech employment in order to make sure we were not giving too much credence to relatively insignificant tech regions. Our definition of high tech industries is based on the one used by TechAmerica, the industry’s largest trade association.
The growth of the technology sector in Indianapolis has been a major topic in the MBA program, especially with regards to the Entrepreneurship MBA. It's a virtuous cycle: more technology business education leads to more technology businesses which leads to the need for more technology business education.
Since I know you must be curious, here's the rest of the top 25:
| Best Places for High Tech Growth |
| Ranking of 2, 5, and 10 year growth, industry concentration, and 5 and 10 year growth momentum |
| Rank | Metropolitan Area | Rank Score |
| 1 | Seattle | 82.2 |
| 2 | Baltimore | 75.7 |
| 3 | Columbus | 67.9 |
| 4 | Raleigh | 63.2 |
| 5 | Salt Lake City | 60.0 |
| 6 | Jacksonville | 59.2 |
| 7 | Washington, DC | 58.9 |
| 8 | New Orleans | 58.8 |
| 9 | Riverside-San Bernardino | 58.2 |
| 10 | San Diego | 56.1 |
| 11 | Indianapolis | 55.9 |
| 12 | Buffalo | 55.8 |
| 13 | San Antonio | 54.0 |
| 14 | Charlotte | 53.5 |
| 15 | St. Louis | 51.6 |
| 16 | Pittsburgh | 50.8 |
| 17 | San Jose | 50.5 |
| 18 | Houston | 50.2 |
| 19 | Hartford | 50.0 |
| 20 | Nashville | 49.6 |
| 21 | Providence | 49.2 |
| 22 | Boston | 48.3 |
| 23 | Minneapolis-St. Paul | 48.3 |
| 24 | Orlando | 48.1 |
| 25 | Portland | 48.1 |
Hello all! I figured it would be necessary to formally introduce myself before I begin blogging without people knowing more than just my name.
My name is Dakota Deter, as you can see above. I was recently asked to be a Kelley BizBlog member; thrilled with this opportunity I gladly joined the team. A little background information on myself. I am currently a sophomore at the Kelley School of Business, and I am majoring in operations and supply chain management, marketing, while achieving the co-major in international studies. I would also like to pursue an economics minor during my career here at Kelley. As of now I have no plans for for pursuing my MBA, but am open to it if I feel the desire or need rising. As far as my plans after college I am open to whatever position is offered to me. With the economy as it is now I will not be picky in choosing a career.
On another note, I attended IUPUI Day of Caring all day Friday and had a spectacular time. We had over 550 students attending and went to over 20 different organizations for a day of serving. It truly was a blessing. I encourage anyone to participate. It is an annual event that comes around early every fall. My team went to FIDO (Friends of Indianapolis Dogs Outside) where we assembled dog kennels for anybody who needed them. The FIDO directors were speechless and so grateful for what IUPUI was doing. Congratulations IUPUI for another successful day of service!
Accounting Meet the Recruiter is always an important event for those pursuing an accounting degree or even finance degree. A flock of top accounting firms and some corporations in the Indiana area come to this event looking for top students. I was very fortunate to have only gone to this event once looking for a "career" my sophomore year, and hopefully, it will be the only time I have to.
As you may know if you follow my blog even sporadically, I interned with Ernst and Young, a "Big 4" accounting firm, last summer and will be interning with them again Spring 2012. I worked hard to establish a great relationship with the firm and developed some pretty intense firm loyalty, and when I offered to help at Meet the Recruiter, I was thinking I would help set up and hand out swag (or as Michael Scott from The Office say "Stuff We All Get"). It turned out that I did do those things, but also, I was going to speak to potential recruits and help recruit!
I wasn't nervous in the sense that I wasn't comfortable answering questions people had. I can spit out Ernst & Young facts just as good as any employee. I was nervous about talking to fellow classmates who were looking to be part of the firm. It's a fine line of a) (s)he is a friend, b) s(he) is a solid student, and c) I didn't want to seem biased. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was definitely awkward sometimes. The most awkward/weird position I was in was when I talked to people in the Kelley MBA program or MSA program or people who have already graduated and were working on their CPA already. They would ask about me, and I would respond with something like, "Oh, ... I'm actually only a third year undergraduate student."
Being on the other side created immense gratitude from within me and appreciation for my luck thus far. I am sure that all my colleagues here at Kelley Indianapolis will find something no matter what though - considering we are one of the top 10 business schools.
Welcome to the fall semester. We are looking forward to a great semester. This week we celebrate Back to Business with different activities on the second floor each day this week. Last week we welcomed over 90 new graduate accounting program students (Tuesday), over 70 new MBA students (Thursday), and over 300 undergraduate students (Sunday orientation).
I enjoy hearing about the dreams of each student as they embark on their journey with the Kelley School of Business. At the MBA program dinner, one of the students commented on how the new technology enhanced MBA cohort was going to make better use of her time while still providing the value of interacting with faculty and students in the classroom. Several asked questions about our Finance MBA classes and I spoke to several graduate accounting students and MBA students this week about the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA, www.cfainstitute.org ) program and how it can enhance their credentials and open interview opportunities for students interested in investment careers.
At the undergraduate orientation, I spoke with each of the club representatives representing students interested in finance degrees, accounting degrees, human resource degrees, and supply chain degrees as well as broader based organizations such as Kelley Indianapolis Cares (organizes service projects in the community), the Entrepreneurship club, and Delta Sigma Pi Fraternity. I give the same advice to new students each year, but this year it seemed even more important as two of my children will also be freshman at college. Get Involved!!!! It’s a great way to make networks, increase the amount of fun you have at college, and get involved in experiential education by applying what you learn in the classroom to the groups that you are involved in. You can see all the Kelley School of Business undergraduate organizations at http://kelley.iupui.edu/undergrad/studentLife/organizations.cfm
Make it a great school year!
The expat dilemma
I have already been in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, for a
whole week. This being a rather small
town, I have seen a great deal of during my time here.
My DIVE project is taking shape, and I have all the
information I need to write a business plan for the person I am working
with. But today I have been thinking
about something else.
I moved to the United States from Chile in 1995, and one
piece of advice I have never forgotten was to make the most of my time in the
United States, to socialize with Americans as much as possible and to become a
part of society for however long I was there.
Little did I know that I would end up making a life in the United
States, marry an American, and live in Indianapolis. I definitely do not feel I am "as American as
apple pie", but I consider myself a bicultural person. I feel comfortable navigating life in the US
or in Chile. In addition, having this
dual perspective has been incredibly helpful when traveling to other places -
the Dominican Republic, for example.
There are lots of expats in Cabarete. Some are young, some are old, some are
retirees, others are entrepreneurs.
While I was walking and hanging out at bars and shops on the main street
(there is only one main street), I noticed that many of the shops are run by
the expats for the expats. I had better
luck talking to the owners and wait staff in English than in Spanish (though
many of them were European). I met
people who have moved here and live in McMansions with maid quarters and a plethora
of staff, do not speak a word of Spanish, and send their kids to an English
language private school with American teachers.
I don't mean to say those are all terrible choices, but it
took me back to that piece of advice I received in 1995: become part of society
for however long you are there.
On the other side of the coin, I visited communities that
are just a couple of blocks away from the main road, but completely out of
sight. These communities suffer from a
great deal of poverty, no running water, high unemployment, and health
problems. These places are much like the
Brazilian favelas, but if you were staying at an all-inclusive resort, you
would never know they are there.
This leads me to ask an important question. If and when I decide to go back to live in
Latin America, with my MBA education and comparatively high earning potential,
what will I do? Will I take the easy
route and live as an expat, or will I see the need around me and create businesses
that will benefit the local communities?
After this experience in the Dominican Republic working with an expat
who is doing everything in her power - often at great personal cost - to improve
the lives of people in the community, I certainly hope I will chose the second
option.
Kelley MBA students helped Grameen see why Indianapolis was the right choice for its next branch. Grameen America is a bank that offers microloans to the impoverished to start businesses. "In a very short period of time, these students helped (Grameen) recognize the possibilities and need in Indianapolis," said Kim Saxton, clinical associate professor of marketing at Kelley Indianapolis.
The students "produced one of the strongest market studies that we have seen and the template that (they) created for future studies will be implemented for additional market research in varying markets," wrote Katherine Rosenberg, vice president of strategic partnerships for Grameen America, in a letter thanking Saxton and the students.
For more details, see
http://www.kelley.iupui.edu/ea/newsRoom/news.cfm?storyID=628
Grameen is celebrating its U.S. presence today through a national screening of a new film, "To Catch a Dollar." More information is available at www.tocatchadollar.com.
Sheryl Hugill is an Evening MBA student at Kelley Indianapolis. She is among eight students currently traveling in Russia on a study tour. Her latest entry appears below.
I would have blogged sooner, but both our free time as well
as our Internet access has been limited here in Russia. We arrived safely in
Moscow early Tuesday morning and immediately took off for some sightseeing at
Red Square. We have seen the outside of St. Basil's Cathedral both during the
day and at night now, but have yet to see the inside because the day we had
planned to go, they had decided to close it for cleaning. We plan to try again
on Saturday though, after visiting a flea market outside of Moscow to pick up
souvenirs.
We have had a very busy week here in Moscow. We've had some
interesting business meetings the last three days, meeting with various
multi-national corporations with offices here in Moscow. We've met with people
from Lilly, Cummins, and Skolkovo School of Management. We got the opportunity
to tour the brand new facilities at Skokolvo as well as meet and chat with some
of the MBA students there.
Both of the teams in our group have also met separately with
companies here to gather information for our projects. My team has met with
Johnson & Johnson as well as some entrepreneurs here with startups in
Moscow. The other team is meeting with Hyundai right now. We also met with a
large steel company here, Evraz.
Our group has learned quite a lot about doing business in
Russia, both from a multi-national business perspective as well as small and
large companies in Russia. They all face some of the same as well as very
different issues.
Tonight we are going out to dinner with some of the people
we have met. While we are all very tired, I think all of us have thoroughly
enjoyed our time here and are somewhat sad about leaving in two days. We have
fallen in love with Russia and I know at least some of us have plans of
returning before too long.
Congratulations to the students, faculty and staff that make one of the best MBA programs in the country.
The Evening MBA Program at the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis maintained its status of one of the best programs in the country as judged recently by the U.S. News and World Report. The part-time program ranks 11th in the country and 5th overall among public universities.
The report ranks only the top 166 part-time MBA programs in the country. Other Indiana programs to be ranked included Purdue University (17), Butler University (105) and Ball State University (121).
The Evening MBA program boasts an enrollment of more than 400, and the students have an average of five years of work experience. The average GMAT score for the most recent students admitted to the program is 622.
I know it seems early, but I've already been preparing to apply for graduate school. There are so many steps to take before I can even be considered by the top institutions. One thing that many MBA schools look for in their applicants is a sufficient amount of community involvement. I have volunteered many times, but I decided to kill two birds with one stone this Wednesday by volunteering for extra credit in my class. When I arrived at the volunteer site- a small church in Indianapolis- I was ready to begin working hard with the organization Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
A small group of volunteers and I were helping to build an outdoor amphitheater at the side of the building. We began by digging a great deal of dirt, rocks, clay, and concrete out of certain areas to make room for the seating. This task alone was enough to wear most of us out, but we continued by moving and stacking large rocks to use for seats. The sun was almost unbearable, but I had a lot of fun working with the other volunteers to build a project here in Indy. The next time I volunteer, I'll look to the organization Keep Indianapolis Beautiful again!
- Jim Plew
So as I continue to tell you all about my wonderful experience being able to apply so much of what I am learning to my new position, I have also been able to connect with more people because of this. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am doing internal communications for Rolls-Royce. As you can imagine many of the engineers that work there are Purdue grads. Being one of the few IU grads, I wear an IU button on my lanyard to show my Hoosier pride. The button is also a good conversation starter, which helps to meet people in my new position.
In fact, last week I was asked about the button by Jim Ford, a manufacturing manager at RR. He also has his MBA from the KelleySchool in Indianapolis. He started talking about this professor whom he was sure was no longer at the school and how this professor made such an impact. Ironically, it is Professor Schmenner, who teaches the Operations class that I have been speaking so highly about and its impact on my every day work experience. Jim and I continued to talk about the class and Prof. Schmenner and both of us became very excited about our shared experience and what we have learned from him. Another gentleman just could not understand our excitement for learning and from this particular professor.
I just cannot say enough about how amazing it is to combine my schooling with my professional career. My curiosity in the supply chain and logistics industry increases everyday with all these connections. Thus, I have decided that if time allows I plan to get both my MBA in Marketing and now in Supply Chain as well.
Powered by Compendium