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If you think the Michigan-Notre Dame game is the only one in town this weekend--think again. Numerous events will place throughout U-M and its different schools to mark the end of a five-year campaign and celebrate exceeding a $1 billion fund-raising goal.
So far, UMBS has raised more than $125 million, easily surpassing its $100 million goal. More than 400 B-school alumni are expected to take part in the festivities this coming weekend which will kick-off on Thursday, September 25 with a dedication ceremony of William Davidson Hall. The naming of William Davidson Hall (formerly the Business Administration Building) will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the corner of Monroe and Tappan. Davidson, has been one of the most generous supporters to both the U-M and UMBS, benefitting students, faculty and the entire University community.
On Friday, the B-school community is invited to a continental breakfast with the UMBS Advisory Boards at 8:00 a.m. This will be followed by a panel discussion with advisory board representatives on "What are the most important 'seize the moment' actions and initiatives that the School must take on during the next several years?" Participants include Mary Ann Caballero (MBA '84), Alumni Society Board of Governors; John Farrell, Corporate Advisory Board; Richard Rogel (BBA '70), National Campaign Committee; and Cleveland Christophe (MBA '67), Visiting Committee. There will also be a reception at 4:00 p.m. to celebrate the funding-raising campaign, which officially ends on September 30.
Other U-M Campaign Celebration events that will take place on Saturday
include "Team Michigan Celebrates a Great Victory," at which Mike Wallace
(CBS newsman, A.B. 1939 and Honorary Degree 1987) and the Campaign leadership
with celebrate Michigan's past and present greatness. U-M President Lee
C. Bollinger will give a keynote address at a Saturday luncheon. Both of
these events are by invitation only, which is probably harder to get than
a ticket for the showdown between the Wolverines and Fighting Irish.
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Entrepreneurs: Third-year LS&A undergraduate student
Matt Campbell (left) and BBA2 D.J. Waldow (right) took an idea thrown out
at an Entrepreneur Club meeting last year and have turned it into a viable
dry-cleaning business.
Photo by Ellen Hodo |
by Steven L. Pessagno, MBA2
Having trouble finding a dry cleaning service conveniently located to serve your pressing needs? Thanks to the entrepreneurial spirits of D.J. Waldow and Matt Campbell, business school students need not look far.
B-School Cleaners reopened for business last week, offering expanded service to B-school students, faculty, and staff. Whereas the laundering service only operated on two days last year, B-School Cleaners is now open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. and then later in the day, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. If necessary, the Cleaners will open during other, variable times throughout the week.
B-School Cleaners has a contract with Stadium Cleaners to pick up and drop off laundry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So if you drop of clothes on Monday, they will be returned on Wednesday. Likewise, Tuesday dropoffs can be picked up on Thursday; Wednesday drop-offs will be ready on Friday; and Thursday and Friday drop-offs will be ready on Monday.
But that's not all that is new this year. B-School cleaners, essentially a cash-only business last year, is now accepting checks and credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, and Discover). Customers can bring in bulk laundry and pay $1.25 to have it washed and folded. Finally, students other than Waldow and Campbell will be staffing the office this year.
Business Partners
Waldow and Campbell are University of Michigan undergraduate students: Waldow is in his second and final year in the BBA program and Campbell is in his junior year in the School of Literature, Science, & Arts--otherwise known as LS&A. Last year, Waldow attended a meeting of the Entrepreneur Club, during which some MBA students threw out the idea of starting a dry cleaning business in the Student Lounge. (The Club has since changed its name to the Entrepreneur and Venture Capital Club.)
It made perfect sense. Getting quality, convenient dry cleaning service has been a perennial pain for business school students--especially during the height of interview seasons. Waldow and Campbell jumped at the opportunity, turning the idea into a business that opened on January 27, 1997.
In an interview with The MSJ earlier this year when they officially opened the business, Waldow and Campbell remarked that they aim to set prices "as low as, if not lower than, anyone in town."
So what can you expect to pay for dry cleaning services at B-school cleaners? Two-piece suits (both men's and women's) will run you $7.90. Ties are $2.95 a piece; pants, sweaters, and blouses run $3.95 each; a silk blouse is a bit more, priced at $5.95. A laundered dress shirt (starched and put on a hanger) is $1.50.
Customer Service
Many of the changes implemented for this year are the result of customer feedback. Waldow explained, "One of the major complaints we had last year was hours. Customers said that we were not open enough and that they hated carrying their clothes around the B-school all day.... We changed our hours to accommodate the customers who wanted to drop their clothing early in the morning and those that wanted to pick up their clothes at the end of the day and take them right home."
Waldow further mentioned that Frank Carr, MBA2, has been instrumental in giving him and Campbell ideas for this year.
When asked how successful the venture has been, Waldow replied, "We did well our first year. We are still paying back some of the debt to the Club. But we are optimistic that we will be in the positive very soon."
There is a large house on Main Street that, from the outside, appears very similar to the others around it. However within its walls, there operates one of Michigan's most active venture firms, Enterprise Development Fund. Many years ago, the house was moved to its current Main Street site and converted into offices for the firm. The interior of the house is very professional, but it also provides a comfortable and unique working environment, one which strongly reflects the personality of the firm itself, confident but by no means pretentious.
Mary Campbell, one of the firm's three general partners, warmly welcomes me and ushers me into her office. Within the office are a plethora of pig related collectibles, from a pig topped weather vane to a firemen's helmet inscribed with "Hogville Fire Dept #1," A "pig lover," Campbell confesses that she has built her collection for years but adores her collectibles much more than the real thing.
A Michigan native, Campbell earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Michigan and then moved to Connecticut to teach high-school English. After five years, Campbell moved back to the Midwest and explored both investment and mortgage banking in Chicago. Eventually Campbell returned to Michigan to pursue a graduate degree at the B-School. "In all candor, during my MBA I don't know that I ever heard the words 'venture capital' or 'entrepreneur,' and I don't think I even knew that venture capital existed."
As a freshly minted MBA, Campbell "chose commercial banking as a window on a variety of businesses" and accepted a position with the National Bank of Detroit. Campbell soon came to believe that if she "had the good fortune to work for smaller businesses, [she] could become a primary financial advisor to them." Because her position at the bank did not allow for this type of interaction, Campbell moved to the bank's venture capital subsidiary.
While serving on the board of a local community organization, Campbell met her future partners Tom Porter and Hayden Harris. "Just as the bank was getting serious about getting out of the venture business, Tom and Hayden were getting serious about getting in it. Both had strong operating and entrepreneurial backgrounds, but neither brought much experience in finance. I could offer the perspective of the financier." Thus, just over ten years ago, Campbell left her position as President of NBD's venture subsidiary to join EDF. At that time, the venture industry was well-established but was still a fraction of what it is today.
Campbell believes that the public offerings of venture-backed firms like Compaq, Apple, and Microsoft began what became a huge leap in awareness of the venture industry. The stunning returns brought by these offerings and the subsequent wealth company founders and venture capitalists experienced were the cause of much increased interest. "In the world of entrepreneurship and venture capital, there really aren't any rules in terms of the upside and that attracts people. Of course, you could also lose everything, but people tend not to focus on that."
While Campbell finds the financial aspects of her business appealing, what she finds most rewarding is "working with the people. Because it is a risky business on all sides and because an incredible amount of commitment, effort, and energy are required to make something work. It's an amazing sector of the population that plays in this arena."
Much of the recent press regarding venture capital has focused on too much money chasing too few deals, but EDF hasn't had this experience. "Our niche is early stage investments. This is an area that has been abandoned by many venture firms and for somewhat good reasons. Venture firms have raised increasingly larger sums of money and now look to invest in prohibitively greater amounts, even initially. In addition, this is the most labor intensive end of the business, and not everyone has the patience, attitude, and desire required by these investments."
Press coverage has also occasionally mentioned the notion of "vulture capitalists," those venture capitalists who reportedly, in negotiating terms of their deals, leave entrepreneurs with extremely small ownership stakes in their own businesses. While Campbell finds this notion in general "highly suspect," she also emphasizes that "there are going to be many, many entrepreneurs who are incompatible with venture financing. The best preventative measure of there ever even being discussions of 'vulture capitalists' would be more time spent up front between the financier. However, it would be a foolish entrepreneur who does not talk to other entrepreneurs financed by the venture firms he or she is considering. There should be nothing in it for a professional venture person to have a reputation other than being a fair dealer."
For those students who dispel the notion of "vulture capitalists" but still find entry into the industry somewhat of a daunting task, Campbell gave the following advice. "Taking any relevant classes offered at the B-school and seeking out projects, either from local startups or venture capital firms, that give students hands on experience in dealing with the issues faced by developing firms."
Among the skills Campbell believes are required in the industry, "high energy level good analytical skills, terrific interpersonal skills, comfort with technology, and an appropriate balance between being a cynic and an optimist" rank as some of the most important.
"EDF has done its part to make valuable learning experiences available by sponsoring an MBA summer intern for the last two years." The firm plans to sponsor one for the upcoming year as well. In addition, Campbell and one of her partners teach a class at the business school every spring, Managing the Growth of New Ventures.
As we end our conversation, Campbell is interrupted for an important call from one of the firm's portfolio companies. The firm is an innovative developer of animal vaccines. Its most important market, of all things, is swine.
Are you two really for real? I can't believe that The MSJ has "psychologists" doing this. What's your deal?
QUESTION 2
I am a first year B-school student and I'm really overwhelmed with work at the moment. It is not helping that I have a sectionmate who constantly dumps his problems on me. At first I tried to be nice and listen, but now all he does is complain to me about "hating school," that his girlfriend is a freak, that he'll never get a good job. I just can't stand it anymore--but I don't know what to do.
(a) What's that got to do with me?
(b) And?
(c) Oh, well
We are quite certain that these will send him or her scurrying. However, if you want to use a less direct route, then here are a couple of options:
(1) Try spending time with this person only in "group" situations, thus limiting the amount of complaining that you need to listen to. This way, you're not rejecting this person's friendship but are sending a subtle message.
2) When this person starts complaining, say something like this: "I've had a really hard week too but I don't feel like talking much about it. How about if we each get to say three things that are "really" bugging us and then let it go so we can spend some time together talking about other things.
Keep in mind that it's a real compliment that this individual has chosen you to confide in with his issues. We all go through difficult times, especially in times of transition or new situations. Give this a little time and see if the complaining doesn't diminish over time rather than throwing away a potential frienship. If not, refer back to the "sure-fire" first option.
Good Luck!
EDITOR'S NOTE
"On Your Best Behavior" is a column that will appear to address your advice-seeking questions.
Please submit your questions by placing them in an envelope and dropping them off in the submissions box outside the MSJ office (next to the Student Lounge). Write "On Your Best Behavior" on the outside of your envelope. Any question is fair game.
All questions must be received by Tuesday at 5 p.m. You can also email questions to: msj_editor@mtrack.bus.umich.edu
Your name will not be printed; use a pseudonym that describes your situation as a "name."
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Photo by Chopo Gomez-Zoebisch |
Words on Course Selections
Some students have talked to me about the frustration they have experienced in choosing proper courses for their program. I would like to take this chance to talk briefly on this subject.
The MBA Evening program is designed to allow the maximum flexibility in choosing courses that fit individual needs. As all of us know, there are 10 core courses to take to fulfill the degree requirement. Some of them could be either waived or placed out by taking the placement exams at the beginning of each academic year. The entire program requires a total of 60 credits to graduate. Even when core courses are placed out, students need to take other electives to fulfull the non-negotiable 60 credit requirement.
According to David Ardis, Assistant Director of Student Services, students are advised to take the electives they are interested in when the courses are offered, provided they have met the course prerequisites. Keep in mind that elective courses might not be offered again in the "right time" of students' planned schedule. Otherwise, students are generally suggested to complete the core requirements before starting the electives. Notice however it is not required to finish core courses prior to taking electives.
As far as concentration goes, students have all the freedom to customize their own degree profile. Students generally concentrate in one management discipline (e.g., marketing) by taking substantial number of electives in that particular field. Students also take the other approach: concentrating in general management, in which they have a balanced number of courses in different management field. As a matter of fact, UMBS enjoys a high reputation of excellence in the field of general management. The best way to find out what courses suit you the most is to talk with the faculty members and fellow students. Going to corporate presentations can also give you a flavor of different career paths you can pursue with different degree concentrations. Finally, you can send your questions to ummbaeve@umich.edu for some official advices. David will try to help you out.
Remember that it is always better for you to plan ahead your course selections. When we recieve the registration materials for Winter 1998 (which will be in the mail in early November), we will also be receiving course schedules for Spring/Summer half terms as well as a tentative schedule for Fall term 1998. Look at them carefully and make your plan in taking courses.
A Reminder
The last day to drop/add a course for 14-week courses is September 23.
Miscellany
The game versus Colorado was fun. If you missed the tailgate by UMBSA like I did, we still have a chance to join the fun. UMBSA has more tailgates in the works. A huge one is coming for Notre Dame game, and it is a good time for networking while having fun. UMBSA membership is $45/single, $70/married. Those of you who are interested should contact Tommy Dodge at thomas_dodge@mtrack.bus.umich.edu.
You should have noticed by now that there was a surge in number of e-mail messages once class started. A lot of student activities, Executive Workshops, as well as corporate presentations are happening and deserve our attention. The best way to keep informed of such activities in a timely manner is through M-Track. If you have not signed on yet, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. For me, one of the most useful aspect of it is to channel all the electronic messages to my home account. This way I can constantly check my mailbox and keep myself in the loop of the happenings. You could also go into your own record and specify your areas of interests (finance, marketing, biking etc.) in order to receive related messages.
Finally, the Black Business Students Association is selling business cards for students. If anyone of you are interested in having your own business cards showing you are an U-M MBA student, you could either stop by the student lounge between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday at their counter, or contact me if the time is not feasible for you. I will then consolidate the names and information and hand them to BBSA by the end of the month .
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In Poland: MBA2 Vijay Banta (second from left) completed a William Davidson Institute internship this summer, working for Mostostal Gdansk--a steel company. |
Apparently perceived as the "American experts" (although no one on the team had been born in the U.S.), there was evidently a high level of expectation regarding the results of our project (this was not going to be a summer vacation). Going into the project, one of the crucial issues facing our team was project scope. The concept of an organizational restructuring and strategy aimed at increasing the level of entrepreneurship within the company encompassed many areas (such as performance evaluation and compensation, accurate cost accounting, and valuation) that in themselves would have each provided a fruitful summer project. It would have been impossible to address each in enough detail to provide value during our time in Poland. Therefore, a considerable amount of time was spent at the beginning of the project learning about all the issues facing the company, then working closely with management to see which were the most important. Other issues were framed in a methodological context, with our final promised output more along the lines of how to do it, rather than doing it.
Once duly framed, the project proceeded steadily along. The inclusion of an MBA student who was a native Pole on our team made translation effortless, at least for the rest of us, and also provided a ready source of information regarding customs and etiquette. Following numerous briefings, presentations, and reports, our sponsors seemed pleased with our work, and in that regard, the project was a success.
Work aside, the generosity of our hosts was exceptional. Upon mentioning that we were planning to go to Malbork, home of a huge castle of the Teutonic Knights, we were provided with a car and driver. Another memorable occasion occurred when an eagerly accepted offer to play tennis with the Mostostal staff turned out to be a match with the number one ranked player in the Gdansk region.
A highlight of the project was a visit to the Mostostal Gdansk site at Torun, birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik). After examining the facility and conducting the requisite interviews, we were shown one of the largest radio telescopes in the world. Mostostal Gdansk had been commissioned to build this structure to an extremely fine tolerance and had produced one of the two most accurate instruments in Europe. We were guided through the facility by a physicist who spoke to us for over three hours and then proceeded to another location in the complex where historical optical telescopes were displayed.
Upon reflection, our William Davidson Internship project provided us with a valuable learning experience, as well as an extremely interesting and fun summer. Gdansk is a great city and it happened to be celebrating its millennium this year. On the shores of the Baltic Sea, where it is once again safe to swim, the city and its surroundings provided the usual diversions such as bars, cafes, and pancake houses. The hospitality and generosity of the Polish people served to heighten our enjoyment of the experience.
As mentioned by our team during our final presentation at Mostostal, we had met the three personal objectives that we had set for the project: to do the best job we could for the company, to learn as much as we could about Poland, and to thoroughly enjoy ourselves.
Hi everybody! This week in our "Latin wisdom" section we are going to address an issue that--no joke about it--will surely concern most of you non-Latin/Hispanic Americans (in the highly unlikely case that there is a single one who actually reads this column) from Commencement Day onwards: How to do businesses in Latin America. Some of you may be working in or with Latin American markets, and surely you will have to close deals with many Latinos/as. So, gentle reader, in order to ease your anxiety about that, let me give you--and just for free--some useful pieces of advice about how to deal with such crazy people as we are (and proud of it!).
At this point, most of you probably have a reasonable idea about how Latins are and how Latin America is, so I will not bore you (at least not in excess), telling you the cultural and geographical issues that make my people incomparable (for good...and for bad!).
Therefore, I'd rather address some of the more frequent causes of miscommunications, misunderstandings and cultural glitches that I know of when foreigners deal with Latin Americans.
Forget about Your Watch!
Here in the USA, a meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. actually starts at 7 p.m.; in Latin America, a meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. can easily begin at 7:15 p.m., or at 7:30 p.m. or, in some rare cases, at 7 p.m., which prevents you from arriving systematically late! So please, don't take offense or consider it lack of professionalism of your hosts; it is simply a deep cultural issue. In Latin America, the time doesn't posses us: we posses the time. The consequence for this is that, as a people, we are not terribly productive, but on the other hand, the average suicide rate and stress-related death rate are incredibly low. (By the way, you won't believe me if I tell you that the guy who invented the expression "Time is money" was a Latino, huh?). So, in such a case, relax, gently accept the unavoidable coffee that will be offered to you... and wait for the meeting to begin!
Play the Game
When meeting somebody (I'm always talking about business), do not try to go "straight to the point" from the beginning. More often than not you will have to spend the first 10 or 15 minutes talking about non-business topics such as where you live, how you like the host country, and so on. If it is not the first meeting, the topics will possibly include your family, your political beliefs, and the like. Once again, do not take offense on the use that the guy opposite to you is making of your time. It just happens that our past experience says that, when closing a deal or starting a project, the difference will be made not by the quality of the project, or by the size and the name of the company, but by the people you are dealing with. If your host trusts you, or likes you at least, more than 50% of the deal is closed. If not... you are in moderately deep yogurt. So, in such a case, relax once more, answer candidly and frankly to the casual comments, make some of your own, and wait politely for the moment in which your host will say, "Let's talk about business."
Be Assertive--But Not Challenging
It is interesting to say that the exact translation for the word "challenge" in Spanish is desafio, which, when applied to interpersonal relations, carries a fighting connotation. So, as MBA experts-on-everything that we'll become, be assertive and ready to defend your views (after all, that's what they will be paying you for); but never, ever, be challenging, if you don't want to (a) be labeled as an "arrogant bastard" and (b) ruin the deal. Also, be realistic in your solutions and views; never take for granted things such as good communications and infrastructure--which are not that common in several regions of Latin America. So, always think, "Is this a feasible solution here?"
Forget about Your Sleep!
It will be a common place for you to be invited to a few drinks, followed by a dinner, and perhaps some more drinks, as this is the usual way in which we treat foreign visitors. Sounds nice, hah? But remember that in our countries, dinner usually starts between 8:30 p.m. and 10 pm, and if you add some drinks to it, you won't be back in bed until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. The personal piece of advice I have for that is: take it with glee, and still be ready and fresh for business early next morning (this is a point of honor). And please, please, if you don't want to make a fool of yourselves, never, ever ask to have dinner at 7 p.m., or complain the next day about the hangover. Just endure it stoically, and sleep in the flight back home. (By the way, if you can outplay your hosts in this aspect... man, you've got them in your pocket!)
PC Comments and Soccer
Two short comments on those issues. First, the very concept of "political correctness" is alien to our countries, as we are a huge melting pot of Europe, African, and Native cultures. So, you will find that many of your PC comments simply won't be understood. Thus, if you are pissed off in a meeting, don't start saying, "Although it may be my fault, I am feeling frustrated about..."; say simply, "I'm angry about this" and don't frown when somebody tells you later, in the happy hour, a joke about "Yankees" or "gringos."
Second, with the less-than-glorious exception of Venezuela, you'll find that, in the rest of the continent, soccer is not a matter of life and death: it is something far more serious than that! So endure patiently and smilingly all the possible attempts to convert you into a soccer fan; this will create a fair amount of goodwill upon you.
The Moral of the Story
What's the moral of the story? It is that dealing with Latino businesspeople is really easy, from a professional point of view; after all, guys such as Mike Porter and Pete Drucker are best sellers in Latin American countires--and the region is growing at an incredibly fast pace. The only way you can reasonably glitch a good deal is by the way of culture misunderstandings, which, by the way, if not repeated, are easily understood and overlooked. But then, if you are willing to "play the game" of understanding and crossing the cultural lines, you will find yourselves closing deals and getting promoted with a terrific speed. And, most importantly, you will learn a lot and have a great experience in Latin America.
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For the most part ,the fashion trend for the summer was definitely the ribbed tank tops for women. For men, the fashion statement hasn't changed. The majority of them are still into baggy pants that hang below the waist. Only now, the men also wear long shirts that hang below the waist. But, that is not to say that originality doesn't exist. There are some, and I kid you not, that wear bathing suits with jeans over them. This is their way of "looking different" amongst the rest of the women who wear ribbed tank tops. And again, there are some who roll out of bed and wear what they were sleeping in to classes. Come on! These people need help! If someone can't take the time to look nice on campus, then there must be something wrong with them. Actually, I guess I shouldn't be one to speak because I am one of these people. But anyway: does one think it is necessary to dress fashionably on campus? This is up to you to decide I personally don't think so. Some of the students don't care what they look like because they are so engrossed in their studies. And there are others who feel their is no one to impress on this campus. Still there are others who consider a pair of jeans and a T-shirt to be enough of a fashion statement. On the other hand, some of the students may feel better about themselves if they dress fashionably for the day. And there are those who feel they must have the opposite sex check them out, so fashion is a must. And still there are those who don't own a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt.
When you think of the best place to go to check out the fashion scene, what place comes to mind? Is it the Diag, where students walk between classes? Or maybe you think of coffee places like Cava Java or Espresso Royale? Or maybe you think of bars and parties as cool places to check out fashion. Well, don't forget to put the Law Library and the Shapiro Undergraduate Library on your list. These two are among the best places to find the latest trends and have-nots. Men and women alike feel a need to look good at the library. Why is this so? Isn't a library where everyone goes to study with their heads buried in the books? Well, for some it is a place to check out the opposite sex. Women like to strut their stuff in the Law Library to attract men and the men do the same thing. The Shapiro Library is known for this. Some of the women like to walk around the UGLI to attract men, and needless to say the men do to. How important is fashion on this campus? Well, that is for the individual to decide. And remember, it doesn't matter what you look like as long as you have a good heart.