O P I N I O N

• Economies Of Scope: An Experimental BBA/MBA Elective Would Go A Long Way In Proving UMBS Innovation by Ed Guzzo, MBA2, and John Gray, BBA1
• The Juice Finally Gets Squeezed: Living Without O.J. In The Morning by Dave Segebarth, MBA1
• Global Citizenship Matters by Judah J. Levine, MBA1
• Letter From The Publisher (John Larkey)
• Rant Of The Week: A Newsman's Dilemma: The President Versus O.J. by Harley Sitner, MBA1
• MSJ Question Of The Week: What Were/Are Your MAP Fears -- And Did They Come To Fruition?

Economies Of Scope

Dean White has touted the UMBS's experiential learning model as one of the key innovations that has made our school successful in developing outstanding MBAs and BBAs, and this has clearly been recognized by recruiters. Just to give one example, the MAP program is a key innovation because it provides "real" business experience to each MBA as well as providing a framework for pursuing process improvement with academic rigor. This combines the best that education has to offer with the reality of improving a business. That's excellent preparation for an MBA who is entering the business or non-profit world.

Management Experience For MBAs

One of the biggest challenges facing business leaders has always been managing people. Most incoming MBA students have had experience managing projects, but how many have had significant experience managing people (i.e., managing the company's "most important asset")? Although the UMBS provides extensive experience managing projects and working on teams, it does not provide the opportunity to manage teams. To our knowledge, no business school offers its students this opportunity...yet!

'Real World' Experience For BBAs

One of the biggest challenges for a BBA entering the workforce is making the transition from student to worker, or to say it in another way: from applying knowledge in case studies to developing real working solutions. Although business simulations are educational, nothing truly compares to the experience gained by working on a "real world" business project. It is exactly this experience that makes MBAs in higher demand than BBAs. In addition, as BBAs, you can meet MBA students through clubs and mentorship programs, but let's face it: more meaningful interaction is needed to really have an impact.

MBAs And BBAs: Together In One Class

The UMBS should take advantage of the fact that it has both a graduate school and an undergraduate one by setting up an experimental elective course for MBAs and BBAs, focusing on developing management and business skills. The course could be a project-oriented one, in which teams of three BBA "consultants" complete one or more projects under the leadership of an MBA. In order to provide the students with as much "real world" experience as possible, the team would be assigned one or more projects negotiated with businesses. Each project could include one or more meetings with the company, research, analysis, and a final presentation to company officials, with the expectation that the company could utilize the team's product to improve their business.

The MBA, serving as team leader, would gain valuable experience managing people, while sharing his or her experiences with BBAs on the types of expectations they will face in the business world. As the team leader, the MBA would evaluate each team member based on predetermined criteria. This would be part of the team member's grade. Although this might seem uncomfortable to those serving as "staff," it is a situation that closely resembles the business world. In addition, the team leader would be graded, in part, based on the team's feedback on his or her management style, as well as on the outcome of the project(s). The team member evaluation would provide a "check" on the team leader to make sure he/she doesn't become a tyrant!

Each BBA on the team would gain valuable experience working on a real business issue, exposure to business expectations through the company and the team leader, and a taste of what it is like to be a consultant.

A UMBS Competitive Advantage

The UMBS is clearly a leader in curriculum innovation; but, as any new product development manager knows, the competition never stands still. To keep the UMBS at the forefront of business education, we should build upon our successes in MAP, IMAP, the William Davidson Institute, the international business projects class, and computer simulations such as Brandmaps. The next blaze on the trail may be joint MBA/BBA courses such as the one discussed above. We encourage you to contact either of us with your comments, ideas, and help in designing a new course that will make it clear to future students and recruiters that the UMBS is the best B-school in the world!

The Juice Finally Gets Squeezed

The night before I was about to take the GMAT, back in June of 1994, I stayed awake until two o'clock watching CNN. I had planned to go to bed early and get about eight hours of sleep so that I would be well rested, alert, and sharp. After all, this was an important test if I wanted to get out of my boring job and find one that pays a lot better. Before I went to bed, I wanted to watch the news so I turned on the TV. Suddenly, there was an exciting, real-life drama unfolding before my eyes. There was a famous ex-athlete. There was talk of suicide notes and guns. There were murder victims, sketchy alibis, a slow moving white Bronco. I couldn't fall asleep with something like that on TV. I had to know what was going to happen. This was the most exciting story in a long time.

Fast forward two-and-a-half years later. Now it is 1997. Five hours of sleep was enough to get me to Ann Arbor. I have come a long way in those two-and-a-half years but one thing still hasn't changed. When I turn on the TV, he is still there: the same famous ex-athlete, the same white Bronco.

Now it looks like this madness is finally going to end. On Tuesday night, a civil trial jury ruled that O.J. was liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. They awarded the Goldman family $8.5 million in compensatory damages and are still deciding on the punitive damages.

So now we all know; maybe he was guilty and maybe he wasn't. Most Americans decided this long ago on their own and now everyone has something to feel good about. We were all right.

Too much time has been wasted on this inane topic. Now there are entire TV shows dedicated to him. One involves two lawyer types on CNN who chat endlessly about people named Cochran, Petroccelli, Darden, et al. These people were previously unknown and are now all millionaires. The other show has a ex-actor with a convincing toupee who is now a talk show host droning endlessly about how guilty O.J. is. I used to think this stuff was interesting, but now I would rather attend a yawning festival than watch another minute of it.

How many thousands of hours have been wasted by productive people covering this story over the past two-and-a-half years? How many millions of dollars have been diverted from productive uses into this senseless phenomenon?

Thankfully, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. We will hear more about O.J. over the next few weeks, and there will be appeals later on. But soon, we will all be living in world without an O.J. trial. And we can finally get on to more important things.

Global Citizenship Matters

by

While gathering information for this week's column, I was reminded of an autobiographical tale I once read of a British woman residing in Southeast Asia who lost her husband, home, and freedom during the Second World War. Upon her liberation from a Japanese internment camp, she lamented her unfortunate fate to a British officer. As she completed her tale, the officer remarked: "Each man leads a hundred lives, but only one is a life worth remembering."

I am still uncertain of what the officer meant by these words. For one's belief in the existence of destiny and choice guides a proper interpretation of this quote. Personally, I associate the message of the officer's words with the wisdom of another, century-old proverb, which states: "For every evil under the sun there is a remedy or there is none. If there is one, try to find it; if there is none, never mind it."

For those of you disposed to remedying some of the world's ills over the next two weeks, the following volunteer opportunities may be of interest:

* Over the past 25 years, Peace Neighborhood Center (PNC), a local grassroots community center on the northwest side of Ann Arbor, has served the needs of children and families suffering from social and economic challenges. PNC provides daily after-school tutoring and meals to more than 75 children and teens, sponsors job placement support for teens and adults, and maintains a respected substance abuse recovery program. Additionally, PNC assists families and individuals with transportation, advocacy in housing, health and legal matters and counsels individuals and families in an effort to heal relationships.

Presently, PNC has an immediate need for a volunteer graphic arts and layout designer to help produce its annual report, which is slated to be completed by February 24th. The annual report will be the first PNC has produced in several years and will be added as an insert to the organization's quarterly newsletter. While most of the copy and several photos will be provided by PNC staff members, a volunteer is needed to assist with designing the format of this special edition. If interested in helping with this project or becoming involved in other facets of this dynamic organization, please call Marcia Alter at 662-3564.

* Looking for a relatively painless way to help out less fortunate members of the local community? Now that recruiting season is in full swing, take a moment to remember someone less fortunate than yourself. When on a fly-back living it up in a posh hotel, be sure to bring back the toiletries (you know the little soap, shampoo and sewing kit that housekeeping leaves on the bathroom counter-top) from your trip. This week, Global Citizenship will begin collecting these items for distribution to local charities. Look for a specially marked bin in the student lounge and start bringing in your donations.

* Section 6, MBA1 is joining with the Ann Arbor Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society to coordinate the 1997 Ann Arbor MS Walk on Sunday, April 13th. The Ann Arbor MS Walk has two distances to accommodate all fitness levels. By walking either 5K or 15K for the 15,000 Michigan residents with multiple sclerosis, you'll be helping to find a cure for the number one disabling disease of young adults. Section 6 invites all UMBS students to help both on the day of the walk and in preparation and planning. If you are interested in helping, please contact Aimee Arlington (aarlingt@umich.edu) or Sarah Lindsey (sarahl@umich.edu) for additional information.

Letter From The Publisher

Photo by Chopo Gomez-Zoebisch

"We need your participation."

As we enter the time of year when the leadership in our student organizations transfers to the next class, I would like to take the opportunity to discuss the MSJ's role in the B-school community.

Like members of any organization that hopes to succeed in its endeavors, we have developed a mission statement that will help us achieve our goals. It is brief (like most other good mission statements), and we would like to share it because we believe that it will impact everyone in the B-school community. Our mission is simple: "To be the #1 source of timely information to the entire UMBS community."

There are three key elements to this statement: #1 source, timely information, and UMBS community. Each deserves some explanation. I want to start with the UMBS community, and how we define it. The education process here at the B-school, which will continue throughout our lives as alumni, is only possible through the interaction that takes place among the variety of stakeholder groups defining the UMBS community. This community includes students (BBA, MBA, PhD, and MAcc), joint degree programs, executive programs, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, corporations, communities (Ann Arbor and Dearborn), the U-M, recruiters, and prospective students. We expect to be the preferred source of information for these various stakeholders of the B-school community.

The second element, timely information, is more straightforward in that we publish a printed newspaper (and an electronic version on the Web--http://www.umich.edu/~msjrnl) every week. This allows us to communicate information to the broader UMBS community quicker than any other information source. It is worth noting that few B-school newspapers provide weekly service; most opt for bi-weekly or monthly service. We continue to seek ways to bring information to the community even more rapidly, and we always look for ways to better utilize our website to provide additional valuable and timely information.

Last, but not least, is the issue of being the #1 source (not to be confused with #1 school, although that is just a matter of time). By providing timely, complete information coverage to the UMBS community, we expect to be the most valuable source of information, in both breath and depth, to this broad range of stakeholders.

This brings us to our challenge to each member of the UMBS community, especially to the incoming club communications officers and to faculty, staff, alumni, and other constituent groups here at the B-school. In order to provide the breadth and depth of information that this community deserves, we need participation and contribution from the various stakeholder groups. In recent weeks we have seen some wonderful articles contributed by faculty, alumni, BBAs, and MBAs. I encourage those of you who have ever considered submitting an article or contributing in any other way to do so. As any OM professor will tell you, "Without any inputs, you will get no output."

We believe that if we take a more proactive role in publicizing and covering activities, events, speakers, seminars, and presentations before they take place, more people will appreciate, attend, and participate in these functions. This will only be realized if the individuals and organizations that coordinate and sponsor these events take an active role in communicating with us. We can, in turn, communicate with the broader B-school community.

I want to thank the exiting student club officers who have demonstrated to us what leadership is all about. Also, I want to remind incoming officers, faculty, staff, and alumni, that the objective is to build upon what you are inheriting. We at the MSJ are striving to continuously improve our service to the community. We need your participation.

--John Larkey, Publisher

---

---

Rant Of The Week

Last Tuesday I turned on the television to watch President Clinton deliver the State of the Union address, figuring it would be good for a laugh or two. What I got instead, I'm still trying to sort out. You see, in some strange merging of news mania, just as the president was due to go on, the civil trial of O.J. Simpson was concluding with a verdict due at any moment. I was fascinated watching the news anchors try to juggle the horrible timing of this convergence.

The anchors of the major networks, ostensibly the most official sources of "news" for most of America, were forced to confront the possibility that their networks might actually pre-empt the President of the United States for real-time news of the most voyeuristic trial of the past thirty years. Almost instantly, the irrelevance of these "official news sources" was exposed. Here was arguably the most important speech by the most important man in the world, and all the news anchors were faced with the fact that the "news" doesn't matter. Keeping with the Clinton theme, one can even imagine the scenes in the back of the news rooms: the venerable old-timers arguing for the sanctity of the office of the president and the seriousness of the State of the Union, and the corporate bean counters screaming, "It's the ratings, stupid!"

At this point, it is only fair to acknowledge that none of the four major news outlets (CNN, ABC, CBS, or NBC) actually stuck with live coverage of the O.J. trial--although both CNN and NBC tipped viewers off to live coverage of the trial on their sister networks (hedge those bets!). And much to my chagrin, the verdict was announced within 30 seconds of the president's conclusion; leaving us in the air as to whether they would have actually interrupted the president.

It has been years since I looked to major television networks for any semblance of unbiased or critical news reporting. I will argue the point day and night that large corporate owned "news" outlets are nothing more than made-up public relations departments; scared to report on their corporate parents and recently emasculated by threats of massive litigation. Even though I have long believed this, I never thought it could reach the point where the major networks would seriously consider pre-empting the President of the United States' State of the Union address for the tabloid spectacle of yet another O.J. verdict.

MSJ Question Of The Week: What Were/Are Your MAP Fears -- And Did They Come To Fruition?