School of Business Gazette

UW-Madison Ranks First in Worldwide Executive Education Ranking

Open-enrollment executive education programs at the School of Business have been rated best in the world by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Wisconsin shares first place with three other schools, IE and IESE, located in Spain; and York University in Canada. Wisconsin and the other top schools received a cumulative rating of 4.2 on a five-point scale. U.S. schools that ranked below Wisconsin include Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Stanford, Ohio State and Penn State.

To create the ranking, an international survey of senior executives who attended executive education programs was conducted. They rated programs on factors including course content, impact, faculty, amenities, fellow participants, post-course support and value received.

“We are pleased that our executive education clients rate us highly,” said Business School Dean Michael Knetter. “Executive Education at the School of Business is continually working to anticipate the needs of our clients in a changing business environment. Our traditional certificate programs, as well as special offerings like the Directors’ Summit and Women’s Executive Leadership Summit, are all designed to help our clients advance their knowledge, skills and careers.”

Wisconsin was not listed in a separate ranking of top custom executive education programs. The business school only recently began offering custom programs for executive education clients. “In the future, we expect that our custom programs will gain the recognition our open programs already enjoy,” Knetter noted.

Most of UW-Madison’s Executive Education programs are held at the Fluno Center, which has twice received the highest worldwide rating for food and accommodations by another international publication, the Financial Times.

New York Times Finds Wisconsin Grads “In the Corner Office”

A recent article in The New York Times found fewer CEOs with Ivy League degrees than in the past. According to the story, in 1980 about 23 percent of chief executives had attended an Ivy League college. Today, among CEOs in the Standard & Poor’s 500, that share has fallen to 10 percent. The article cited research by Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm, that the University of Wisconsin is tied with Harvard as the most common alma mater for top executives.

The reason for the switch, according to executives interviewed in the article, is an increasing need for a diverse leadership with skills in communication, real-world smarts and a common touch.

David R. Whitwam, Whirlpool’s former chief who earned his undergraduate degree in economics from UW-Madison, was one of the executives quoted in the story. “I think of the people at Whirlpool who failed over the years, and it rarely had to do with their technical skills,” he said. “It’s usually their leadership capabilities.”

Similar comments came from Robert A. Eckert, chief executive of Mattel and an emeritus member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of the UW-Madison School of Business: "When you look at today's C.E.O., he or she has to be very comfortable talking about the business with folks on the factory floor or customers who are increasingly diverse.”

Thomas J. Neff, chairman of U.S. operations for Spencer Stuart, said he couldn’t remember the last time a client doing an executive search asked for graduates of a particular college. According to Neff, when it comes to senior-level appointments, it’s “What have you done for me lately?”

Thayer-Ali Named President of CASB

Tammy Thayer-Ali is the new president of the Center for Advanced Studies in Business, (CASB), Inc. The CASB Board of Directors confirmed her appointment. “We are very fortunate to have someone with Tammy's experience and ability to fill this important position,” said Dean Michael Knetter.

Since joining CASB in 1999, Thayer-Ali has played a key role in growing CASB's corporate custom program business to more than $3.1 million in fiscal year 2005. She works with more than 25 corporate clients, including: GE Medical Systems, Kerry Group, American Family, General Mills and ConAgra. She also leads several initiatives in programming for women executives, including the annual Women's Executive Leadership Summit, and is working to launch a new women's leadership executive education program in 2006 and new "Ideas Forums" on issues important to women leaders.

In her new role, she will serve as president of the CASB Board of Directors, the governance board for the Fluno Center and the business school's customized executive education programs. She will work with a new associate dean for executive education to provide a full array of educational opportunities for organizations. The search for a new associate dean for executive education is underway. The associate dean will lead Executive Education including it centers and association programs, and will direct the open-enrollment programs.

Prior to coming to CASB, Thayer-Ali spent five years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she was managing director of IBC Gulf Conferences and worked as a headhunter. She also lived and worked for 13 years in Italy, serving as general manager of the Institute for International Research, a consultant for Hewitt Associates and as a human resources director for Nestlé Perugina. She has an MBA from Boston University and a bachelor's degree in sociology from UW-Madison.

ASAP Students Meet Warren Buffett

Twenty students from the Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP) had the opportunity to spend a day with legendary investor Warren Buffett. The students had a three-hour private meeting and luncheon with Buffett at the Field Club in Omaha on Nov. 12.

In the meeting, Buffett offered investment advice (how-to invest, not actual stock recommendations), political insights, career guidance and thoughts on life in general. Second-year student Greyson Colvin said, “His insights and comments are lessons we will remember throughout our lives and be able to carry with us throughout our careers.” Following the meeting, Buffett arranged for the group to tour the Nebraska Furniture Mart (a Berkshire Hathaway company), hosted by management.

Joan Gillman to Co-host Radio Business Program

Joan Gillman will co-host a radio program on WIBA News/Talk 1310 AM Sunday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m. beginning Jan 8. Gillman, director of special industries programs for the School of Business and former director of its Small Business Development Center, will join Jody Glynn Patrick, publisher of In Business magazine. They will interview a variety of guests on topics of interest to a general business audience. The show, formerly broadcast on Saturdays with a WIBA host, has been reformatted with the new co-hosts and retitled “In Business with Jody and Joan.”

Scheduled guests include: Jim Wood of Wood Communications; Rebecca Ryan, an expert on recruiting and keeping Generation Y employees; Michael Swita, who writes on emotional intelligence in the workplace; and MATC President Bettsey Barhorst who will talk about the type of employee most in demand by Greater Madison employers. Hattie Bryant of the PBS show, Small Business 2000, is scheduled for May. Programming information will be posted on www.inbusinessmagazine.com and www.wiba.com .

Staff In Service Program: Grainger Hall Building Addition

An update on the building addition to Grainger Hall will be provided Thursday, Dec. 1 from 9 to 10 a.m. in 5120 Grainger Hall. Melissa Amos-Landgraf, assistant dean for administration, and the Zimmerman Design Group will discuss the latest plans for the addition and the projected demolition and construction schedule. The meeting is sponsored by the Office of Human Resources and Employment Relations of the School of Business.

FACULTY-STAFF NEWS

Senior Lecturer Rod Matthews, Real Estate and Urban Land Economics recently went on his 32nd international student travel program. Matthews and the entire class of Real Estate 365 traveled to Paris in November to work on a real estate development project for Disneyland Paris. Earlier in the semester, the class did a demographic study for Florida on behalf of the Chicago-based REIT, Equity LifeStyles, which provided the funding for the trip.

Edward Marien, professor emeritus in Executive Education, was named Honorary Distinguished Logistics Professional by the American Society of Transportation & Logistics in recognition of his career-long contributions to the field of logistics. He joined a distinguished list of honorees that includes Don Schneider, chairman of the board, Schneider National Inc.; and Fredrick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx Corporation.

Professor Dan Anderson, Actuarial Science, Risk Management and Insurance, has written a new book. “Corporate Survival: The Critical Importance of Sustainability Risk Management.” The book analyzes the increased pressures brought on U.S.-based multi-national corporations from global competition and regulations, particularly in the European Union and Japan. He gives strategies for developing sustainability risk management systems and explores their considerable advantages, which he believes include decreasing risk costs, increasing competitive advantage, improved community image, enhanced reputation, and increased profitability and stock performance. The book is featured on the December UW Business News Wire of the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations.

Abigail (Abby) Sanford Capper has joined Executive Education as a senior marketing specialist. B ased in the Fluno Center, she is Executive Education's direct marketing specialist, responsible for data analysis and list selection for open-enrollment program marketing. Prior to moving to Madison this summer, she was a senior consultant for TATC Consulting in Washington, D.C., where she led database and marketing projects for the U.S. Department of Labor. She also worked as a senior consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, Va., conducting projects for the Economic and Business Analysis Group and NIMA Systems Engineering Services and was a senior analyst for Borders Group in Ann Arbor, Mich. She has a BS in Economics from George Washington University and an MA in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Ann Kinkade, director of the UW-Madison Family Business Center , was awarded a Certificate in Family Business Advising by the Family Firm Institute, which works to establish standards for better serving family-owned enterprises.

Barbara Peterson, student status examiner 2, is transferring from the MBA Program Office to the Nicholas Center for Applied Corporate Finance as of Dec. 11.

Nicole Hauge has joined the Business Career Center as a university services associate 2. She comes to the School of Business from the UW-Madison Department of History, where she was assistant to the chair.

Roger McMunn, Financial Specialist 3 LTE, joined the Financial Management Office in November.

Alicia Schetter, associate student services coordinator, joins the MBA Program Office on Dec. 5. She previously was a recruitment specialist with Miller Brewing Company. She has a BA in organizational communication from UW-Stevens Point and a master's in human resources and labor relations from UW-Milwaukee.

Debora Treu, director of the Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis, had her last day with the School of Business on November 24.

INSITE Receives Grant for Entrepreneurship Research

The Initiative for Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship (INSITE) has been awarded a three-year, $125,000 collaborative research grant by UW-Madison's Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE).

INSITE is a cross-campus program to enhance understanding of technology entrepreneurship. The grant will support research into key features of successful technology entrepreneurship. INSITE's new research efforts—international in scope—will include non-commercial motivations for sharing inventions, flexibility as a condition for flourishing technology entrepreneurship and unanticipated outcomes of efforts to promote technology entrepreneurship.

“Experience indicates there is likely no single recipe of policies and institutional features that will work equally well across the globe to advance technology entrepreneurship,” said School of Business Professor Anne Miner. Miner is INSITE director and Ford Motor Company Distinguished Professor of Management and Human Resources. “We are grateful for the opportunity to probe deeper into the processes that shape technology entrepreneurship.”

INSITE has been examining the conditions that foster the development of high-technology businesses in communities around the world, as well as exploring their impact on other institutions. As an example of the scope of their research, INSITE researchers recently shared early findings at the Technology Transfer Society national conference in Kansas City. They presented on a range of issues, from the effects of venture funding on companies to the motivations behind university scientists' commercialization efforts. Other research examined dynamics in open-source software and emerging technologies, like stem cells. INSITE plans to share researchers' work through a series of upcoming events.

The WAGE grant is managed by Miner and Brad Barham, chair of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Also on the core research team are School of Business school faculty members Jonathan Eckhardt, Gerry George, Sanjay Jain, Masako Ueda, Law School Professor Gordon Smith and Assistant Professor Jeremy Foltz from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Supporting this effort is the new director of INSITE, John Surdyk. WAGE fosters study in globalization and international economic integration and is headed by Jonathon Zeitlin, professor of Sociology and Political Science.

HOLIDAY NEWS

Dean’s Holiday Party Set for Dec. 14

Faculty and staff of the School of Business are invited to attend the Dean's Holiday Party, Wednesday, Dec. 14 from 3:30 to 5:30 in 5120 p.m. Please rsvp to Dianne Rothwell at drothwell@bus.wisc.edu or 265-4937 no later than Thursday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m.

Adopt a Family This Holiday

School of Business employees will again be participating in an “adopt a family” project benefiting a family serviced by Domestic Abuse Intervention Services. The holidays are an especially difficult time for those who have left an abusive situation. The goal of the program is to make their holidays special and relieve holiday stress by providing both fun and necessary gifts for mothers and their children.

Those interested in participating are asked to stop by 5151 Grainger. All gifts need to be new and should remain unwrapped. Gifts requested from the family include: clothing, household items, grocery store gift certificates and educational toys. Cash donations, which will be used to purchase remaining gift items and/or gift certificates, also will be gratefully accepted. Donations should be dropped off prior to Dec. 9, when the packages will be delivered to the shelter. For more information, please contact Alisa Robertson at 262-8777 or arobertson@bus.wisc.edu.

School Holiday Party on Dec. 20

Come celebrate the holidays with friends and colleagues, homemade treats and holiday cheer. On Tuesday, Dec. 20 a festive gathering will be held in room 1250 Grainger Hall (the former Blue Chip Deli). The event is sponsored by the School of Business Undergraduate Programs Office, Business Career Center, Learning Center and CIBER.

Winter Break Hours for Deli, Food Cart and Conference Services

The first floor Breakfast Cart will close Thursday, Dec. 22 at 11 a.m. and reopen Monday, Jan. 9 through Friday, Jan. 13 with hours of 7:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Normal breakfast cart hours of 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. will resume Tuesday, Jan. 17.

The Deli on the third floor will close Thursday, Dec. 22 at 1:30 p.m. and reopen Tuesday, Jan. 17 for the semester, starting at 9:30 a.m. and closing at 2:30 p.m.

Conference Services will close Thursday, Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. and reopen Tuesday, Jan. 3. Its hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

IN THE NEWS

Media coverage of the people and programs of the School of Business.

Management Professor Barry Gerhart was quoted in the Oct. 17 Financial Times in an article on the issue of pensions crisis.

Kevin Weadick, BBA '95, MBA ‘02, was featured in the “Day in the Life” section of BusinessWeek Online. Weadick works for Grainger and graduated in supply-chain management.

The school's Arts Administration program and Director Andrew Taylor were featured in the November 26 Capital Times.

Executive Education's Roger Formisano and Management Professor Ray Aldag were quoted in the December Capital Region Business Journal in a feature on what makes a successful CEO.

Associate Professor Mason Carpenter, Management and Human Resources, was quoted in an article on third-quarter losses by Spectrum Brands in the November 10 Wisconsin State Journal.

Ann Kinkade, director of the Family Business Center , was quoted extensively in the December issue of Capital Region Business Journal for an article on succession planning. FBC member, Wick Building Systems, and FBC sponsor, Smith & Gesteland, were also quoted.

News of Michael Lehman, retired CFO of Sun Microsystems Inc., receiving the school's Distinguished Business Alumnus award was carried in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal.

News of the school's MBA program winning a Beyond Gray Pinstripes award for its MBA offerings in social and environmental issues was carried on Wisconsin Public Radio and in the Capital Times.

The Small Business Development Center and its 25-year history of helping entrepreneurs was featured in the December issue of Business Beat, the publication of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. The same issue profiled Neil Lerner, director of the UW-Madison SBDC.

Assistant Dean for MBA Programs Gary Lessuise was featured in the “Movers and Shakers” column of the November issue of In Business magazine.

Assistant Professor Larry “Chip” Hunter, Management and Human Resources, was quoted in an article on flexible work schedules in the December Capital Region Business Journal.

News of the school's INSITE program (Initiative for Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship) receiving a research grant was carried in the Wisconsin State Journal.

News from the Financial Management Office

More Financial Management resources are now available on the web in the "Administrative Resources" section. They include announcements, a Financial Management organization and assignments chart with contact information, policy documents, travel guidelines and links to the UW-Madison Division of Business Services. (You may need to use your Grainger log-in to access the information.) “We are working to make as much useful information available online as possible,” said Assistant Dean for Financial Management Del Anderson. “This is a work in progress and we continually will be adding things. Feedback from faculty and staff is greatly appreciated.”

Shantara Glenn, payroll and benefits specialist 3, will have her last day with the School of Business on Dec. 2. The Office of Financial Management is conducting a search for a payroll/benefits person. In the interim, faculty and staff should contact Judy Wagaman regarding payroll and benefit issues. Travel-related issues should go to Bonnie Gay. Anyone with questions or concerns during the transition is encouraged to contact Del Anderson.

Real Estate Students Attend Los Angeles Conference

The Center for Real Estate sent 10 second-year real estate MBA students to the Urban Land Institute's fall meeting in Los Angeles in November. The students networked with students from other universities, industry professionals and UW-Madison alumni. They represented the university at the University Pavilion, where top real estate programs had booths and displays. The Center's Academic Director Tim Riddiough and Executive Director Mike Mihelbergel attended, as did Professors Kerry Vandell and Jim Shilling of the Real Estate Department. Students were able to sit in on a high-level discussion among some of the top retail executives in the industry. The Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association hosted a welcome reception at the conference.

Upcoming Family Business Center Programs

The Family Business Center will present a program Jan. 24 on “How to Keep the Business in the Family and Protect the Senior Generation’s Financial Security.” Keynote speakers will be Mark Bradley of Ruder, Ware and Michler; and John Zimdars of The Zimdars Company, Inc. Keynote speakers at its Tuesday, Feb. 21 program, “Resetting the Emotional Barometer” will be Bonnie Brown Hartley of Transition Dynamics Inc. and Chester Weber of Wealthbridge Partners LLC. Both programs will be held at the Fluno Center and are open to FBC members and sponsors at no charge. Potential FBC members may attend one program for $100 per company. Registration is required.

Two CIBER Programs Set for First Week of December

The UW-Madison Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) will co-sponsor an afternoon event focused on strategic business opportunities in the Maghreb region, highlighting Tunisia and Morocco on Dec. 1. Other co-sponsors include the Madison International Trade Association (MITA), the UW-Platteville International Business Resource Center and the UW-Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE). For more details, please click here.

On Dec. 2, a program on U.S.-China Trade Relations and the WTO will be held at 206 Ingraham Hall from noon to 1 p.m. Amy Celico, deputy director of the Office of Chinese Economic Area at the U.S. Department of Commerce, will speak. CIBER is sponsoring this event with the UW-Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE) and several other campus organizations. For further information on this free program, please click here.

About the Gazette

The next issue of the Gazette will be published Jan. 1. Please send articles for the next issue by Dec. 28 to Lari Fanlund, lfanlund@bus.wisc.edu.