Vanderbilt Business

Author: Nancy Wise

Q & A with Christie St-John

Christie St-John, MA’94, PhD’99, recently rejoined Owen as director of admissions after eight years as senior associate director of admissions and recruiting for the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. She directs admissions for Owen’s fulltime MBA programs and the MS Finance program. Before beginning her Vanderbilt career in 1997, St-John worked in marketing and in oil and gas trading. St-John, a Nashville native, has lived abroad and traveled extensively for both work and pleasure.

Christie St-John, MA’94, PhD’99

Q. Welcome back! Tell us a little about your connection to Owen, and what you’re doing now.

A. I was recruited to Owen from the Vanderbilt Ph.D. program in 1997. I had lived in France and Italy for about eight years and had come back to Nashville in 1992. One day, a friend from the Spanish department who was working with the International Executive MBA Program called and asked if I would be interested in working at Owen.

I met with Peter Veruki, Susan Motz and Tami Fassinger, and I guess I passed the test since I knew the difference between Saks Fifth Avenue and Goldman Sachs. They liked the fact that I had worked in several industries in the U.S. and in Europe and that I brought a strong international outlook to the program.

Admissions was quite different from any other job I had been in, and I loved working with the students. I started out managing the exchange programs. Luckily, the dean then, Marty Geisel, was willing to let me expand my role considerably. Because of my eclectic background, in addition to handling the exchange programs, I started doing some international recruiting and helping international students with their resumes and career paths. It soon developed that I was doing just about anything related to international affairs. It was a unique position and allowed me to get to know the students from the time of their first contact with Owen throughout their careers as alumni. I have remained in touch with a number of our alums over the years. It has been so gratifying to receive welcome-back notes from many of them.

When Tami Fassinger and I started talking about the director of admissions position last summer, I was intrigued. After visiting the school and seeing all the changes that had happened during my nine-year absence, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to make an impact and contribute a different perspective on MBA recruiting from my work with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Q. What goals do you have for your office?

A. Recruiting more military candidates, expanding outreach to women and minority candidates, and diversifying our international pool of applicants. To that end, we’ve added several new recruiting events, such as four military-focused recruiting events, a second trip to Latin America, a few stand-alone events and fairs in Europe, and our first foray into Africa. We also joined the Foundation for African Leadership in Business. I’m very excited about this because Africa is in great need of trained managers for their expanding economy. I am very pleased that Owen will be a leader in this endeavor.

Q. How can alumni help?

A. I have always believed that alumni are the key to recruiting and yielding great candidates. It is especially helpful when they talk (in person or via email) to prospective candidates because they can share their views on the value of the Vanderbilt MBA. Moreover, our alumni are proof that a Vanderbilt MBA will lead to career success. We urge all alumni to send good prospective candidates to us directly, to help us with our yield of admitted candidates, and to remain involved with the school through any activity that they feel suits them best, whether helping at MBA fairs, recruiting students at their companies, coming back to help with interviewing, or hosting coffee chats or dinners for admitted students.

I encourage all alumni to contact me directly if they want to be involved. We promise not to abuse their generosity.

“Alumni are the key to recruiting and yielding great candidates.”

—Christie St-John

Q. What differences do you see in Owen of 15 years ago and today?

A. All the students look younger now! The library has been updated and refurbished and is really impressive. That used to be one of my favorite places to go for research and also to get away from my desk. And, of course, there are more programs today than then, and the overall class size of the MBA program is much smaller.

I do feel that the international mix needs to be tweaked a bit to include areas where we already have a solid alumni base and new areas that are opening up for MBA talent. I am also very pleased to see the caliber of alums on the Alumni Board and the business people on our Board of Visitors.

Q. You have a lot of international experience. How will that apply to your new role?

A. Working in admissions with a focus on international recruiting has led me to more than 70 countries so far. I also served on the evaluation committee at American Councils, an organization launched by former Sen. Edmund Muskie. It provides scholarships for candidates from the former CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. This gave me the opportunity to travel to some really exotic places, such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, to name a few.

I believe in establishing relationships wherever I go, so I am bringing personal contacts with overseas educational advisers and agencies—and Owen alumni—that will help us get the kind of international diversity that we are seeking. Plus, adding Kim Killingsworth to our admission office brings an even larger wealth of international knowledge since Kim had a similar job at Cornell University.

Q. Your Vanderbilt degrees are in French and Italian. How did you parlay those interests into your recruiting career?

A. Having language skills permitted me to get meaningful jobs in Europe. It has also meant success in recruiting in Europe. I can talk to potential candidates in their languages and can also speak with corporate recruiters about things other than just business because I know the history and culture of those countries—and other Francophone countries as well. It has allowed me to develop strong relationships with educational advisers, and to empathize with our international students when they come to the U.S.—I’ve been there and I know how confusing it can be. It also helped me have credibility with U.S. students who wanted to work abroad. It isn’t easy and it requires a lot of preparation and a lot of humility.

Q. If there’s one message you could convey to Owen alumni, what would it be?

A. We need your help to keep the Owen brand in front of recruiters and prospective students. And we want to stay in touch with you. Above all, please keep us updated as to where you are and what you are doing. I foresee lots of travel in the future where we will need alumni help. The MBA market is becoming more and more competitive, and to show how strong our program is, we need to show off our alums—they are the proof that this program is one of the best for success in one’s career.

June 18, 2013
Honoring Three of Our Best

Germain Böer

Dick Daft

Hans Stoll

The Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has bestowed emeritus status on three of Owen’s most acclaimed faculty. Germain Böer, Richard Daft and Hans Stoll were honored during Commencement as the school’s newest faculty emeriti.

Böer, who was professor of accounting, as well as director of the Owen Entrepreneurship Center, is now professor of accounting, emeritus. Daft, formerly Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Professor of Management, is now professor of management, emeritus. Stoll, the Anne Marie and Thomas B. Walker Jr. Professor of Finance, is now professor of finance, emeritus.

“Together, these three professors have dedicated more than 90 years of scholarship and teaching to Owen. They have been favorite professors to hundreds of students and outstanding colleagues with whom it has been a pleasure to work,” says Dean Jim Bradford. “I regret that their retirement will rob future students and faculty of the opportunity to learn from them.”

June 17, 2013
When Is Cheap Not Cheap?

Lowest prices of the year! Markdowns! Exclusive Dealer! Top Quality! We’ve all been exposed to them—the marketing strategies promising bargains or high value. Yet as alluring as those pitches can be, consumers draw very different—and sometimes contradictory— conclusions when it comes to sale prices or value. To make it even more challenging, consumers often fill in gaps in their knowledge by drawing inferences about products.

New research co-authored by Steve Posavac, the E. Bronson Ingram Professor in Marketing, finds that in some consumers’ minds, price denotes quality. Yet for others, low price leads a consumer to believe he or she is getting a good value.

Steve Posavac

“Consumers rarely have complete information and use various strategies to fill the gaps in their knowledge as they consider and choose products,” the researchers wrote in an article published in the April 2013 Journal of Consumer Research. “One of these strategies involves using naive theories: informal, common sense explanations that consumers use to make sense of their environment. For example, consumers may believe that popular products are high in quality while also believing that scarce products are high in quality.”

Posavac and collaborators Hélène Deval, Susan P. Mantel and Frank R. Kardes found that consumers use a series of theories when considering value and price. How they size up a possible purchase depends on what is on their mind when they’re thinking about a given product— something marketers need to take into account when crafting ads, marketing strategies and promotions.

Price vs. Quality Experiments

The researchers conducted eight experiments that tested marketing techniques that leaned toward price or quality. In one experiment, consumers were shown an ad for a bottle of wine with either a high or low price. When subtly reminded of quality, consumers evaluated the expensive wine more favorably than the cheap wine. However, when subtly reminded of value, they rated the cheap wine more favorably.

“In the case of price, most people simultaneously believe that low prices mean good value and that low prices mean low quality. But these two beliefs are not equally present in consumers’ minds all the time,” the authors wrote. In short, people can hold opposing beliefs about the same product.

When Product Marketing Backfires

Sales promotions succeed when consumers perceive that they are getting a good deal, but they can also backfire if consumers perceive that lower prices indicate poor quality. And if the company makes assumptions that one naive theory guides consumers, they run the risk that the strategy could actually cause a decrease in sales and perceived value. “For example, a marketer who feels that low prices signal value may go all in on a low-price strategy in an attempt to drive sales but may succeed only at reducing brand value and alienating consumers if a substantial percentage of the firm’s customers believe that low prices are commensurate with low quality,” they wrote.

Posavac and his fellow researchers cite retailer J.C. Penney as an example. The company moved to a new strategy of abandoning sales events in favor of everyday low pricing. However, J.C. Penney customers had been so conditioned to the naive theory that sales promotions signified good deals that the absence of such events was taken by many longterm customers to mean that there were no longer opportunities to get good deals—and sales dropped.

“[Companies] design a strategy by assuming that a certain naive theory is going to drive consumer evaluation and choice when, in fact, several naive theories are available to the consumer,” the authors conclude. So what’s the best strategy? The authors suggest that, in practice, marketing communications that set the stage by suggesting a given naive theory—quality, for example—and then make a product appeal in keeping with that theory will have the best results.

June 14, 2013
Vanderbilt’s $8.6 Billion Impact on State
A recent independent economic analysis has found that Vanderbilt University had an $8.6 billion impact on the Tennessee state economy during fiscal year 2011-12.

Among the factors measured were Vanderbilt’s direct spending on operations and construction, spending by students and visitors, and spending by businesses as a result of Vanderbilt’s presence in the state.

The analysis, prepared by Austin, Texas-based TXP Inc., reported that Vanderbilt, the second largest private employer in Tennessee, generated an economic impact of $8.6 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.
- The economic activity supported 58,000 total jobs with wages and benefits in excess of $3.4 billion.
- Vanderbilt spent $86.6 million on construction, building and leasehold improvements. These expenditures supported hundreds of jobs in the construction and building maintenance sector.
- University-related activity attracted 700,000 visitors to campus, including patients, parents and athletic enthusiasts, creating jobs and wages for businesses and vendors in the community.
- Tax revenue generated by Vanderbilt and related activities drove estimated Tennessee tax revenue of $221.6 million into state coffers.
The TXP report said that the impact potentially exceeds the calculations, since a university’s economic impact extends well beyond the traditional workplace due in part to factors not easily quantifiable such as “a highly capable workforce, innovation and entrepreneurship, clusters in knowledge industries, and superior quality of life.”
June 14, 2013
Global Acclaim

In the 2013 global MBA survey by the Financial Times, Owen climbed five spots to No. 25 among U.S. MBA programs and eight spots to No. 53 globally.

In addition, Financial Times ranked Owen No. 35 globally for job placement and No. 37 globally for academic research.

This continues a strong showing in popular rankings. Bloomberg BusinessWeek just ranked the Vanderbilt MBA program No. 25 overall and No. 9 in leadership. And Vanderbilt once again made it into the top- 30 MBA programs as ranked this year by U.S. News & World Report. Regardless of ranking publication, Vanderbilt can always be found among the top 10 percent of the AACSB-accredited B-schools in the world.

June 14, 2013
Newly Tenured

Timothy_Vogus

Timothy J. Vogus has been promoted to associate professor of management and organization studies, with tenure, effective fall 2013. Vogus, who joined Owen in 2004, teaches in the MBA core curriculum on leading teams and organizations as well as an elective MBA course on negotiation.

Vogus’ area of research involves the mechanisms through which organizations create and sustain a culture of safety. Currently, he is interested in these dynamics in health care settings and their effects on the incidence of medical error at the point of care delivery.

Vogus was recently named one of the 50 most influential business professors of 2013 and earlier named one of the Top 40 Business School Professors Under 40 by poetsandquants.com.

June 14, 2013
M. Eric Johnson Named New Dean

Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management’s New Dean, Eric Johnson

M. Eric Johnson, current associate dean at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and former Owen faculty member, has been named dean of the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management effective July 1. He succeeds Dean Jim Bradford, who announced his retirement in December.

Johnson said that Owen is a true gem among the world’s best business schools.

“I am honored to be given the opportunity to lead the school to even higher achievement,” he said.

At Dartmouth, Johnson oversaw Tuck’s top-rated MBA program and its nine centers and initiatives. He was responsible for launching several of those centers in the areas of digital strategies, energy, entrepreneurship and health care, and also held a named chair.

Johnson taught at Owen from 1991- 99, first as assistant professor of management, then as a tenured associate professor of operations management. He twice won awards for teaching excellence.

Johnson’s teaching and research concentrate on the impact of information technology on the extended enterprise. His latest book, The Economics of Financial and Medical Identity Theft, examines the security failures and economic incentives that drive identity theft. He holds patents on interface design and has testified before Congress on information security. Additionally, he has held positions with Systems Modeling Corp. and Hewlett-Packard and has consulted for top companies around the world.

An expert in information technology as well as supply chain management, Johnson holds bachelor degrees in engineering and economics and a master’s in engineering and operations research from Pennsylvania State University. He received his doctorate in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University.

June 14, 2013
Transitions

A performance of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry is entertainment unlike any other. The Opry broadcasts as a radio show, so the action on stage is geared to a radio audience first, then to the people in the auditorium. The live audience sees announcers reading from behind a podium and performers bustling on stage, plugging in equipment and launching into song or a story. If equipment needs to be moved or adjusted, the audience sees that, too. The transitions are part of the fabric of the evening.

The subject of our cover story knows all about the Grand Ole Opry and transitions. As president of Opry Entertainment and executive vice president at Ryman Hospitality Properties, Steve Buchanan, BS’80, MBA’85, handles the business and entertainment sides of the Grand Ole Opry, celebrated Ryman Auditorium and legendary WSM radio. He was also instrumental in the development of the hit ABC television show, Nashville, for which he serves as an executive producer. As you’ll read, Steve was also responsible for transitioning the historic Ryman Auditorium from a candidate for demolition to an acclaimed performance venue.

Owen itself is going through some transitions. In this issue, we reacquaint (or introduce) you to Christie St-John, MA’94, PhD’99, the new head of admissions. Christie has returned to Vanderbilt from Dartmouth and she has some wonderful ideas for recruiting future Owen students.

The big transition we’re facing, of course, is that Jim Bradford is stepping down as dean of Owen and a new dean, M. Eric Johnson, will soon be at work. Fortunately, Jim is leaving the school in a strong position and Eric will have a powerful foundation on which to build.

We asked Jim to talk about what’s next. What we got instead was a manifesto that every business leader should follow: Jim’s wisdom about how leaders should spend their last 100 days in office is profound and visionary.

Speaking of changes, you’ve probably noticed a new author of this column. Seth Robertson, who edited Vanderbilt Business for more than five years, has joined Vanderbilt Magazine and passed the editorship to me. I’m enjoying learning about Owen and discovering all its wonderful people and stories.

There are other changes ahead for Vanderbilt Business. We are beginning work on a redesign of the magazine. That means a fresh look as well as new features and departments. Are there regular features you like? Never read? Would like to see expanded or changed? Should we do more alumni profiles? More stories about students? Email me at owen.magazine@vanderbilt.edu. I look forward to your feedback.

June 14, 2013
Global Element

You never know where a blind ad will lead you. It led Tim Murray from Knoxville, Tenn., to the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Middle East.

Murray is CEO of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the world’s top 10 aluminium producers. He joined Alba in 2007 as general manager of finance after applying to an ad in the Economist.

Then things moved fast. Murray served as Alba’s chief finance and supply officer, chief financial officer and chief marketing officer before being appointed CEO in October 2012.

In 2010, Murray was instrumental in launching Alba’s initial public offering on the London and Bahrain stock exchanges. “I was responsible for running the Alba team as well as working with the army of advisers to develop the prospectus. When it came to the roadshows, I was the one who did all the presenting,” he says. “The skills I gained at Owen were very helpful, as the IPO Information Memorandum was like doing a case study on steroids.”

Murray says people thought he was crazy to move from Middle Tennessee to the island nation of Bahrain, which he calls the one of the most welcoming places he’s ever been.

“I had a nice life in Knoxville and both my kids were born there,” says Murray, who had spent 10 years at Knoxville’s ARC Automotive, the last as vice president and CFO. “However it was a great opportunity and my wife was very supportive.”

The adjustment to life in Bahrain was easier than Murray expected, he says. “What surprised me the most is how western Bahrain is. I find it easy to relate to most people,” he says. “I have learned how little we in the U.S. understand the world. I have also learned that people outside the U.S. are much more tolerant than we are.”

He’s continuing to learn as CEO. “In my career, I have handled just about every function there is, but when you are the guy at the top, it is a different feeling of responsibility,” he says. “Alba and the aluminium industry contribute around 10 percent of the GDP of Bahrain. It is a humbling experience knowing you are running a company that is so important to the country and the families of Bahrain.”

June 14, 2013
Vanderbilt Business Staff for Fall 2012

Dean
Jim Bradford

Editor
Seth Robertson

Contributors
Nelson Bryan (BA’73), Sherie Edwards (EMBA’12), Jennifer Johnston, Sandy Smith, Cindy Thomsen, Ryan Underwood (BA’96), Brett Wade (EMBA’12), Amy Wolf

Photography
Daniel Dubois, Lauren Owens, Anne Rayner, John Russell

Designer
Michael T. Smeltzer

Art Director
Donna Pritchett

Chief Marketing Officer
Yvonne Martin-Kidd

Associate Dean of Development and Alumni Relations
Cheryl Chunn

Editorial Offices: Vanderbilt University News and Communications, PMB 407703, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7703, Telephone: (615) 322-0817, Fax: (615) 343-8547, owenmagazine@vanderbilt.edu

Please direct alumni inquiries to: Office of Development and Alumni Relations, Owen Graduate School of Management, PMB 407754, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7754, Telephone: (615) 322-0815, alum@owen.vanderbilt.edu

Vanderbilt University is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. Opinions expressed in Vanderbilt Business are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Owen School or Vanderbilt University.

Vanderbilt Business magazine is published twice a year by the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, 401 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203-9932, in cooperation with the Vanderbilt News and Communications.

© 2012 Vanderbilt University. “Vanderbilt” and the Vanderbilt logo are registered trademarks and service marks of Vanderbilt University.

December 17, 2012
Hands On – Photo Essay

Experiential learning has long been a point of pride for Owen. Case competitions, extracurricular club activities and in-class simulations are just a few of the opportunities afforded students throughout the academic year. Each fall, though, students can go a step further by signing up for an intensive hands-on experience in one of several disciplines. Immersion Week, as it’s known, gives students a competitive edge by exposing them to real-world situations outside a traditional classroom setting. This past October’s Immersion Week encompassed health care, finance, marketing and global education, all of which are highlighted in the photo essay that follows.

Health Care Immersion

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“The Health Care Immersion is a valuable start to the Vanderbilt Health Care MBA program. It leverages our unique position in Nashville as the nation’s hub of health care delivery. During the week, students gain many different perspectives on the challenges facing the health care delivery system and leave with a better context for the business education that follows.”

—Larry Van Horn

Larry Van Horn, Associate Professor of Management and Executive Director of Health Affairs, and Scarlett Gilfus, Program Coordinator for Health Care, organized this weeklong course for students pursuing Health Care MBAs. The course examined the real world of U.S. health care delivery through the perspectives of physicians, nurses, patients, scientists and administrators. On day one, students changed into scrubs and headed into the operating rooms at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where they stood next to doctors and nurses and watched surgeries being performed. Other activities included visits to the LifeFlight Operations Center, which manages Vanderbilt’s critical-care helicopter service, and the Mass Spectrometry Research Center, which provides laboratory support for researchers across the university.

“It was a one-of-a-kind experience that prepared us for the rest of our curriculum at Vanderbilt,” says Garrick Berberich, an MBA candidate for 2013. “We got to see all aspects of the health care industry and discuss the front-line interactions between providers and patients.”

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Wall Street Week

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“Wall Street Week is the primary mechanism for introducing careers in financial services to first-year MBA students. When they meet alumni and other firm representatives, it brings a sense of reality to career paths they may have only read about. Students come back much better educated about their options and what it takes to get to Wall Street from Owen.”

—Emily Anderson

The Career Management Center’s Executive Director Read McNamara, MA’76, and Senior Associate Director Emily Anderson helped coordinate this weeklong trip to New York for 34 first-year MBA students exploring careers in finance. The group met with representatives of 11 different financial services firms: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citi Commercial Banking, Citi Investment Banking, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners, JPMorgan Chase, Paulson & Co., Petrus Partners and UBS. Representatives of the firms gave presentations about the economy and discussed MBA career paths within their organizations. Students gained additional insight into Wall Street from alumni who joined Dean Jim Bradford for the annual Wall Street Week Alumni Reception at the Union League Club.

“Wall Street Week was very important for my internship search,” says Neena Sinha, an MBA candidate for 2013. “Not only did I learn more about the banking industry, I gained a valuable network that will help support my career in the future.”

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Brand Week

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“The key to a good immersion experience from a pedagogical perspective is to foster interaction between business leaders, such as our presenters from Brown-Forman, Papa John’s, GE and Mars Petcare, with bright students who work on problems that matter—like understanding the ROI behind social media marketing activities.”

—Steve Hoeffler

Associate Professor of Marketing Steve Hoeffler and Jack Kennard, Principal at White Oaks Brands, a Louisville, Ky.-based brand strategy firm, organized this three-day event for marketing students. Executives from spirits and wine company Brown-Forman, pizza restaurant chain Papa John’s and appliance manufacturer GE gave talks on issues such as social marketing and consumer engagement. The highlight of the experience was a team case assignment for pet food manufacturer and veterinary care company Mars Petcare.

“It was exciting when our team was voted by Mars Petcare as having the winning strategy,” says Ashley Welnhofer, 2013 MBA candidate and President of the Vanderbilt Marketing Association. “We were invited to research and assemble a social media ambassador program for the company as an independent study during mod 2. Working hand-in-hand with their brand management team definitely enhanced my education.”

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Global Business Association Trip to Turkey

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“There were many eye-opening experiences for our group. One of my favorites was learning firsthand about socially conscious initiatives at Turkcell and seeing how those initiatives reinforce the company’s mission as well as its bottom line. Of course, the generosity of the Turkish people and Vanderbilt alumni who helped plan our visit also made lasting impressions on us all.”

—David Parsley

The Global Business Association, a student club focused on international business, helped plan this weeklong trip to Istanbul to learn about the Turkish economy. Accompanying the 18 students on the trip were David Parsley, the E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Economics and Finance, and Assistant Professor of Operations Mumin Kurtulus, a native of Turkey. Among the highlights were tours of the Istanbul Stock Exchange; Turkcell, the leading mobile communications company in Turkey; and MyNet, the largest Internet company in the country. The group also had time for a few cultural stops, including a cruise around the Bosporus and visits to architectural landmarks like the Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque.

“I didn’t know much about Turkey before going there (except that I liked Turkish coffee),” says Aaron Fung, an MBA candidate for 2012. “The trip gave me a great deal of insight into Turkish thinking. It’s partly European, Asian and Middle Eastern—just like its geographic location.”

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May 14, 2012
From the Dean

I’m pleased to report that Owen—as many of you already know—placed 25th in the latest MBA rankings published by U.S. News & World Report this past March. That showing marks our second-highest ranking in the history of this important survey and reflects the hard work and dedication of many in the Owen community. Together we have built great momentum for the school that I believe will soon put us in the top 20.

Whether you tend to agree with rankings or not, they are an important driver of applications, our hiring ability, and frankly, alumni engagement. That said, they’re far from perfect.

Beyond the well-documented cases of schools in various disciplines gaming the system—or in some cases, simply providing false data—rankings will never be able to tell the full story of a school. As I’ve discovered, GMATs and GPAs tell you very little about the individuals who ultimately emerge as strong, ethical leaders.

As a business school dean, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the rankings race. While I fully intend to continue to compete vigorously, as we move forward you should know this: 1) The greater good of Owen will always come before rankings; and 2) No matter how high we climb, there will never be a quantitative measure that can capture leadership, determination and a commitment to purposes beyond ourselves—all qualities that, to me, mark Owen students and alumni.

In that spirit, allow me to highlight several pieces in this issue of Vanderbilt Business, starting with the cover story about Brent Turner, MBA’99. As you’ll see, Brent is often humorously self-effacing. But working alongside him, one soon discovers that he’s a masterful relationship builder, putting the right people and the smart strategies in place to get a job done. He’s also a doer who is unafraid to set lofty goals and then follow through on them with great dignity and determination. We’re lucky to have him as such an active alumnus and productive partner.

Elsewhere in the magazine, Alex Nicholson, EMBA’01, tells the story of how and why he decided to pursue a business degree in his 50s after years spent running his family’s business. And Linus Hall, EMBA’00, will make you thirsty for more after reading about his experience starting and growing Yazoo Brewing Co.

There’s also a report on innovative work happening at Owen, including the groundbreaking new rule for measuring and capturing customer loyalty created by Professor Bruce Cooil and alumnus Tim Keiningham, MBA’89. In addition, you’ll read about an exciting new Silicon Valley endeavor that’s being started by two soon-to-be Owen grads, Mahni Ghorashi and Ilya Tokhner.

These stories help showcase the incredible vibrancy of the entire Owen community, from current students to our world-class faculty and administration to our invaluable alumni. For me, this is the soul of Owen—something no ranking could ever measure.

Innovation in education, much like in business, originates from intellectual curiosity—from asking “Why not?” and “What if?” in a structured and often empirical way. At Owen, our innovation is sparked by a business world that is always evolving. This can be seen in the unique and powerful ways in which our faculty’s research addresses specific needs brought to us by the business community. It’s also evident in the program creation that has taken place at Owen during the past six years.

Programs like the MS Finance, Master of Accountancy and Master of Management in Health Care are all products of resource- and market-based opportunities, creative thought and a willingness to act. Likewise the new Americas MBA for Executives, which is the topic of this issue’s cover story, arose from the need to provide students, particularly those who are seeking assignments in the Western Hemisphere, with a better understanding of global business.

By building innovative programs such as these, we’re able to expand our brand and product offering, while also attracting applicants who are valued by the employment market both in good economic times and bad. Years of experience and observation have taught me that the only real sustainable competitive advantage in business is to surround yourself with the best and brightest. Education is no different. A school like ours can maintain a successful path only if it’s able to attract, hire and matriculate exceptionally talented individuals.

The programs you read about in this issue of Vanderbilt Business illustrate the great strides we’ve made, but there’s still much work to be done. To compete with other schools, we must find the resources to continue bringing the best students and faculty to Owen. Your support is the key to our success, and I hope that we can continue counting on it in the months and years to come.

Sincerely yours,

James W. Bradford
Dean, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management
Ralph Owen Professor of Management

May 14, 2012
Dome Stretch

In this age of technological wonders, it’s easy to forget that ours is just the latest in a long line of innovative periods through history. For every new marvel to come along, there’s likely an equally striking precedent in the past. Perhaps no period demonstrates this better than the Renaissance, whose luminaries upended the medieval ideas of their day and spanned the gap to our own modern times.

Of all the monuments to Renaissance ingenuity, one in particular has held my interest ever since I saw it in person years ago. The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, otherwise known as the Duomo, is a towering achievement in architecture. Its octagonal dome, which is 140 feet wide and more than twice as high, remains the largest one ever built with bricks and mortar—no small feat considering it was completed nearly 600 years ago.

As awe-inspiring as the cathedral is to behold, the story behind its construction is just as remarkable. Legend has it that architect Filippo Brunelleschi received the commission to build the dome by winning a competition to see who could successfully stand an egg upright. While others tried to balance their eggs in vain, Brunelleschi smashed his on end. This act of bravado foreshadowed the daring design to come.

Whether the story’s apocryphal or not, there’s no doubt Brunelleschi was a man of rare talent. Yet often overlooked is the fact that he already had a foundation to build upon. Brunelleschi’s breakthrough was the culmination of a process that had begun more than a century earlier with architect Arnolfo di Cambio, who called for a dome of similar scope in his drawings. No one at that time knew how to construct such a dome, but that did not deter di Cambio or the builders who followed him. For decades they continued laying the groundwork, confident that someone would eventually finish what they had started.

That to me is the most inspirational part of the story. For all the originality of Brunelleschi’s dome, it could not have happened without the vision of those who came before him. As di Cambio showed, innovation is as much about planning as it is flashes of brilliance.

All these centuries later, the same is true at Owen, where innovative ideas, such as the ones highlighted here, are founded upon a farsighted commitment that stretches back to Vanderbilt’s beginnings. The education and research of today are made possible by the forethought, guidance and generosity of previous generations. As Chancellor James Kirkland once said, “In building a university there is never an occasion for finishing touches. The task is always one of laying foundations.”

Vanderbilt’s success lies in those very foundations Kirkland described. Much like the Duomo, the university can rise only as high as its base allows. The stronger the support, the more opportunities there’ll be to upend conventional thinking and push knowledge further and further—until someone comes along one day and spans the distances that once seemed impossible.

May 14, 2012
Owen climbs to No. 25 in U.S. News

The Owen School improved to

No. 25 in the nation, up from No. 28 last year, in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. It marks the school’s second-highest placement ever on the list.

“As our rankings continue to move up in a highly competitive field, it’s becoming clear that others are recognizing the business school’s remarkable momentum,” says Dean Jim Bradford. “We continue to work hard to attract top-caliber talent throughout all of our management programs and look forward to many more bright days ahead.”

The Owen School improved to No. 25 in the nation, up from No. 28 last year, in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. It marks the school’s second-highest placement ever on the list.

“As our rankings continue to move up in a highly competitive field, it’s becoming clear that others are recognizing the business school’s remarkable momentum,” says Dean Jim Bradford. “We continue to work hard to attract top-caliber talent throughout all of our management programs and look forward to many more bright days ahead.”

May 14, 2012
Vanderbilt Business Staff for Spring 2012

Dean
Jim Bradford

Editor
Seth Robertson

Contributors
Lubaina Balasinorwala, Nelson Bryan (BA’73), Meg Hale, Abigail Humphrey, Jennifer Johnston, Alex Nicholson (EMBA’01), Shana Passman (MBA’09), Rob Simbeck, Cindy Thomsen, Ryan Underwood (BA’96), Amy Wolf

Photography
Kerry Dahlen, Daniel Dubois, Steve Green, Joe Howell, Lauren Owens, Anne Rayner, John Russell, Susan Urmy

Designer
Michael T. Smeltzer

Art Director
Donna Pritchett

Chief Marketing Officer
Yvonne Martin-Kidd

Associate Dean of Development and Alumni Relations
Cheryl Chunn

Editorial Offices: Vanderbilt University, Office of Development and Alumni Relations Communications, PMB 407703, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7703, Telephone: (615) 322-0817, Fax: (615) 343-8547, owenmagazine@vanderbilt.edu

Please direct alumni inquiries to: Office of Development and Alumni Relations, Owen Graduate School of Management, PMB 407754, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7754, Telephone: (615) 322-0815, alum@owen.vanderbilt.edu

Vanderbilt University is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. Opinions expressed in Vanderbilt Business are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Owen School or Vanderbilt University.

Vanderbilt Business magazine is published twice a year by the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, 401 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203-9932, in cooperation with the Vanderbilt Office of Development and Alumni Relations Communications.

© 2012 Vanderbilt University. “Vanderbilt” and the Vanderbilt logo are registered trademarks and service marks of Vanderbilt University.

May 14, 2012