Vanderbilt Business

Tag: fall2008

  • Owen Recognized for Community Service

    Owen Recognized for Community Service

    In recognition of its legacy and the commitment of Vanderbilt MBA students to volunteer service, the Owen School has been named one of two winners of the 2008 TeamMBA Award for Outstanding Community Service. This prestigious annual honor from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) pays tribute to schools that exemplify the highest ideals of “giving back” and a commitment to community service and cause-related activities.

    Ribbon PeopleGMAC President and CEO Dave Wilson presented the award to Owen representatives—along with fellow recipient Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University—at the organization’s Annual Industry Conference in Chicago on June 20.

    “Owen has long championed volunteerism, charitable donations and social entrepreneurship as a fundamental and critical element of business education,” says Dean Jim Bradford. “We are honored to be recognized with this important award and proud of our students, faculty and staff for their continued dedication to giving back to the community.”

    Owen was recognized for several initiatives:

    • More than 20 community service and cause-related activities, involving nearly all of Owen’s 433 students (along with faculty and staff) through the volunteer organization 100% Owen;

    • More than 10,000 volunteer hours and $15,000 in funds raised to benefit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Hands On Nashville, Toys for Tots, Pencil Partners, Boys and Girls Club of America, Second Harvest Food Bank, Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee, and the American Cancer Society;

    • Participation by every incoming first-year student in building a house for Habitat for Humanity during orientation;

    • Hosting the 2007 Net Impact Conference, which brought more than 1,800 graduate business students and professionals to the Vanderbilt campus and involved 266 volunteers and 6,600 volunteer hours;

    • Courses and activities focused on poverty alleviation as part of the student-founded Project Pyramid, which included consulting activities and student trips to Bangladesh and Tupelo, Miss.

    This year’s pool of applicants for the award comprised 26 schools, including fellow finalists Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. Entries were evaluated by a committee of business school professionals based on such criteria as participation level, effort, reach and impact. The TeamMBA initiative was started by GMAC in 2005 to celebrate and promote business schools’ outstanding community-focused work, and the TeamMBA Award was first given last year to Georgetown University.

  • Fall 2008 Staff

    Dean—Jim Bradford

    Editor—Seth Robertson

    Contributors—Scott Addison, Oscar Atkinson, MBA’08, Nelson Bryan, BA’73, Hui Chen, Kerry Dahlen, Daniel Dubois, Paul Frankenberg, EMBA’03, Matthew Garrett, MBA’08, Steve Green, Roger Hawkins, Erin Hofmann, MBA’08, Randy Horick, Jennifer Johnston, Jenny Mandeville, Amy Norton, David Parsley, Neil Ramsey, BE’82, MBA’83, Jamie Reeves, John Russell, Rob Simbeck, John Tamny, MBA’98, Amy Wolf

    Designer—Michael T. Smeltzer

    Art Director—Donna Pritchett

    Executive Director of Marketing and Communications—Yvonne Martin-Kidd

    Associate Dean of Development and Alumni Relations—Patricia M. Carswell

    Web Edition Design and Development—Lacy Tite

    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.

    Visit the Owen School on the Web: owen.vanderbilt.edu.

    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.

    © 2008 Vanderbilt University. “Vanderbilt” and the Vanderbilt logo are registered trademarks and service marks of Vanderbilt University.

  • Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Pay?

    Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Pay?

    Glance through the latest annual report for Owen, and you’ll find facts and figures that tell you pretty much everything you need to know about the school. Average GMAT score of the entering MBA class? Got it. Average years of experience? Check. Average starting salary of last year’s class? Yep, that too.

    Heart MoneyHowever, there’s one stat you won’t find in there, and it’s perhaps as telling as any other: the number of Owen students who find their soul mates inside the walls of Management Hall. When we decided to do a photo essay in this issue about couples who attended the school, I was surprised to learn that there are more than 200 of them. That’s almost five per year since the school first opened its doors! Even when you account for the couples who may have known each other beforehand, or those who may not have met until after graduation, it’s a remarkable number for a school of Owen’s size. In fact, when I mentioned this to a single colleague of mine at Vanderbilt, she joked that maybe she should think about applying to Owen to find a mate.

    But this begs a question: Why so many? Could it be that business-minded people are better at finding love than others? If you were to ask me that question 15 years ago when I was majoring in English and cutting my teeth on the sonnets of Shakespeare, I would have scoffed at the suggestion. If anyone understands love, I would have said, it’s the poets, artists and dreamers of the world.

    That, of course, was before I came to understand that there are plenty of dreamers in business, too. It was also before I figured out that a successful marriage is every bit about being practical and level-headed as it is about being daring and romantic. If you think about it, finding the right partner in life is not too unlike finding the right partner in business. Ideally you come across someone who not only complements your strengths but who is also willing to take risks on your behalf. Who better than a couple of MBAs to recognize these traits in one another?

    That partly explains it, I suppose, but I think the uniqueness of Owen also plays a part. If I’ve learned one thing since taking over the helm of this magazine, it’s that Owen is inherently an intimate place. The students who graduate from the school value long-term relationships and pride themselves on being a tight-knit community. This notion started, perhaps by accident, with the small class sizes and cramped quarters during the early days of the school, but it still holds true today.

    In the end, your guess is as good as mine as to why so many couples pass through the doors of Owen. Maybe it’s nothing more than a coincidence. But now that the word is out, don’t blame me if Admissions sees a spike in applicants who are single.

  • From the Dean

    From the Dean

    Dean Bradford

    The following is excerpted from the Academic Year 2007-08 Annual Report. Click here to view the report in its entirety.

    In the midst of a world financial crisis, the fundamentals of success are in place. We have solid programs, superb faculty and staff, and an incoming student body that is one of the strongest—if not the strongest—in the history of the school. Lest I repeat myself, I feel confident that we are poised to grow to our full potential. And, achieving that full potential is all about continuing our push for quality—quality faculty and programs, quality students and quality facilities. From health care reform to the increased financial markets regulatory scheme that is certain to follow, there will be a need for talented, well-educated Owen graduates who can change and mold the future. We are in for a difficult economic period, but in the long run, the investment in a great education will continue to pay outstanding returns.

    Quality Faculty and Programs

    We are in the knowledge business; our faculty provides both the “product” and the experience that is the foundation on which our reputation is built. To maintain and grow our stature as a Tier 1 research institution, a partner to business, and an innovator in the business of management education, we will continue to invest in individuals who bring fresh insights, knowledge, skills and experience to the academic and business communities.

    We have significantly strengthened both our research and clinical faculty during the past four years. While we’ve only increased the overall size of our faculty by three individuals, a full third of our faculty members—17 of 48—have been purposefully recruited and added to faculty during this period. And, we are not yet done. This coming year, we will likely add two or three new marketing faculty, as well as one more faculty member each to our finance and operations departments.

    Quality Students

    As the number of MBA programs grow and capacity among established schools increases, competition for the caliber of students we seek continues to intensify. As a result, our cost of scholarships—the dues we must pay to attract desirable students who hold multiple offers—is increasing.

    While we take in almost $21 million in tuition and fees, almost 25 percent of that amount goes back to students—predominantly MBA students—in the form of scholarships. Like other B-schools, current scholarships are almost exclusively merit-based. There is a great opportunity to channel some of these funds into needs-based scholarships that will attract individuals who have the academic and the personal qualities we seek, but who are unable to afford the higher costs of a private institution such as Vanderbilt.

    Quality Facilities

    Management Hall is an architecturally innovative facility, but the building itself hasn’t kept pace with our needs. A facility originally built to house 300 students plus a weekend Executive MBA program no longer accommodates the classroom, congregation or study space needs of the 500 students who grace our halls on a daily basis.

    An all-stakeholder task force concluded that Owen needs 155,000 square feet of space—double our existing footprint of 76,000 square feet. With the needs assessment done, our next step is to determine the options and costs for a new or dramatically enhanced building and ascertain the feasibility of raising or borrowing the funds needed to move forward.

    Thank You

    Thank you for your support no matter what form—your time, your talents, your financial gifts. Most of all, thank you for all you’ve done and will continue to do for this school that we are all so proud of. I am humbled and grateful.

    James W. Bradford
    Dean and Ralph Owen Professor for the Practice of Management

  • Deep Roots, Thick Skin

    Deep Roots, Thick Skin

    Kimberly Jackson was inspired to enter the wine business after helping found Owen’s wine appreciation club, Cork and Barrel.
    Kimberly Jackson was inspired to enter the wine business after helping found Owen’s wine appreciation club, Cork and Barrel.

    Every bottle of wine has a story to tell. It’s a story written as much by Mother Nature—through the soil, climate and grapes themselves—as it is by the human hand that crafts the finished product. Kimberly Jackson, MBA’01, has learned this firsthand as President of JAX Vineyards, a boutique California winery she runs with her brother, Trent.

    “When people decide to buy a bottle of wine, of course they want quality, but they also want to know how the wine is made. They want names and labels that they can identify with, and it’s a very personal thing,” she says.

    Bringing the JAX story to a broader audience is Jackson’s mission at the moment. So far she’s succeeded in landing distribution deals for her wine across the nation. JAX also has gotten a boost from fortuitous product placement on HBO’s hit show Entourage, as well as a recent appearance on Wine Spectator magazine’s “Ten Wineries to Watch” list.

    Ask Jackson the secret to JAX’s success and she’s quick to point to the land where the cabernet grapes are grown. The property in Calistoga is home to 40-year-old vines—some of the oldest in Napa Valley. Although the vines don’t yield nearly as many grapes as younger ones do, their deep roots allow them to grow without irrigation. The resulting fruit is dense, thick-skinned and rich in flavor. “Our grapes work a little harder to survive,” as Jackson puts it.

    Jackson herself knows a thing or two about working hard to survive. Starting a business from scratch has required her to wear many different hats—from marketing to forecasting to invoicing and operations—but she credits Owen with giving her the framework and confidence to succeed.

    And that’s all the more reason to root for JAX Vineyards. It’s an underdog story that many can identify with. A story just waiting to be uncorked.