What Does MBA Stand For?

It is the end of the Spring 2012 semester at Stony Brook University. Finals are finished, papers are submitted, textbooks are being returned to the bookstore. As students, we can kick back and heave a big sigh of relief while our professors are doing their “homework” – plowing through the piles of paperwork that we generated and completing our grades.

About the title of this post: I know MBA really means “Master of Business Administration” but, on the eve of graduation, I am smiling, thinking of other meanings for the acronym.

It could stand for “Marvelously Bright Adults”…or “Mighty Business Avengers”…or “Much Benefit Added”…or “Most Brainy Alumni”…I’m pretty sure that this would have been quite an interesting,  creative conversation to have in the grad computer lab during the week before finals. We were all in a caffeinated, bleary frenzy as we were finishing team projects, marketing plans and cramming for final exams!

On a more serious note, there is now a fresh crop of new MBA graduates leaving the halls of Harriman. They are hitting the pavement in search of jobs that put what they have learned at the College of Business to good use. Those who know me well know that I am pretty sentimental. I will miss my friends that I spend hours with in the MBA program. So, I searched for some inspiring words and decided to impart some wisdom from a native “New Yorkah” and a much-admired football coach (most notably the coach of my beloved Green Bay Packers), Vince Lombardi. The three quotes that “spoke” to me are as follows:

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.”

“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”

So, to our newest Stony Brook MBA graduates: as  you stride into your new lives with determination, armed with your business knowledge and your network of fellow Stony Brook alumni, may you reach for excellence in your endeavors in your professional lives and in your personal lives. Most of all, may you be happy, looking forward to each new day.

We will miss you all. The grad lab will be a bit quieter without your lively conversations! Do keep in touch with us, let us know how you are faring and what adventures you encounter.

Congratulations!

Be There or Be Square!

One month from today is the MBA Spring Dinner. I’ve had several people ask me about this event. So, here’s the scoop:

It’s an annual dinner sponsored by the MBA Association on May 11, 2012. SUNY Stony Brook College of Business MBA students, faculty and staff are invited. You can bring a guest (a “+ 1″ as one friend put it). It will be from 7 to 11 PM at Lombardi’s on the Sound in Port Jefferson. The event includes dinner, music, an open bar and some drawings for giveaways.The cocktail reception begins at 7 PM.

Tickets will be $40 for students and $55 for faculty, staff and alumni and will go on sale on Monday, April 16th at 5:30 PM in Room 102. There is a limited numbers of tickets and they will be sold only to MBA students, not guests. However, students can purchase one guest ticket and must provide the name of the guest. The last day to get your ticket is Friday, May 4.

Here are my reasons for encouraging everyone to attend:

• Expand your circle of friends. I went to the dinner last year. It was at the end of my first semester and I didn’t know very many people. But I still had a lovely time. And I met a lot of people. You never know…that person you sit next to at the dinner may end up being in your accounting class next semester!
• Faculty and alumni attend, too. It’s a chance to chat informally with our professors (yes, they are human!). You can also network with alumni. You know that mantra: network, network, network! Our alumni enjoy meeting current students and hearing about the MBA program.
• It’s an opportunity to get all gussied up in nice clothes. The attire for the evening is Cocktail/Formal Business Attire. That means you should leave your shorts, flip-flops and hats at home. We all look so different in dressy clothes compared to our everyday jeans and Stony Brook sweatshirts. I must say that we clean up pretty good!
• It’s a festive occasion. A celebration of sorts for those finishing up the semester and even more so for those who are graduating a few weeks later. So, come and join the celebration!
• For those of us with a significant other, it’s a chance for them to meet your classmates and professors. They patiently listen to us talk about our days in the MBA program. Now they can put faces to names.
• Your fellow students serving on the MBA Association Board and others work very hard for months to put together this fantastic evening. (Right before finals week, too!) It would be nice for them to have a full house.

So, I think I have effectively outweighed any excuse for not participating in this year’s MBA Association Dinner. I hope to see you all there. Be there or be square!

PS For more information about the Spring Dinner, contact sbu.mba@gmail.com

Classroom Plus

Twice in the past month I have stepped beyond the MBA classrooms to attend events sponsored by the Stony Brook University College of Business. Both events were worth putting away my computer and my books for a short while. I highly encourage my MBA classmates to do the same for future College of Business sponsored events.

The first event was a panel discussion, Women in Business, held in honor of Women’s History Month. Five professional women shared their stories of education and workforce challenges and accomplishments. They patiently answered questions from the audience and offered their insights into finding an internship, the value of advanced degrees, effective networking, tailoring cover letters and resumes and much more. Unfortunately, some of my male MBA classmates thought this event was going to be relevant only to female students; on the contrary, the information the panel members gave was relevant to all students. You guys missed out on a good panel discussion.

The second event was yesterday: a presentation on the Economic Outlook of the US by Joseph Tracy, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor to the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It’s not often that we are able to hear from such a financial authority about current financial situations and have the opportunity to ask him questions in a fairly small gathering. The graphs he presented were good illustrations of the financial environment in the United States and you didn’t need to be a finance whiz to follow his talk.

Attending extracurricular events means juggling my schedule and spending more time on campus but I think it’s worth it. It’s good to look beyond my books and the classroom environment and get a good glimpse into the “real world.”

Plus, these events involve a good amount of planning by the College of Business administrators and staff and it’s rewarding for them to see a good turnout after working so hard. If you have ever been involved in event planning (I have), you would have a healthy respect for all the emails and phone calls that are made for weeks and even months in advance, the reservations that must be confirmed, the publicity that must be completed, the logistics to be checked and double-checked…whew, it’s a lot of work!

So, I encourage my MBA classmates to try to attend such events whenever possible. You will learn something new and have opportunities to make connections and network. And, after the event, take the time to thank our College of Business folks who took the time to plan it all for our benefit. They would love to have feedback to consider when planning future events.

And, hey, save me a seat…

Fantasy Football on Steriods

This semester I am taking one of the Stony Brook College of Business MBA Program’s capstone courses: MBA 512 Business Planning and Strategic Management. A capstone course is designed to bring together all the elements students have learned thorough out the MBA program and apply those elements to business situations. In other words, the focus of this class is to take what we have learned and apply it in a simulated real world environment.

Our class involves playing a simulation called Capstone. We are assigned teams. Each team runs a company on this computer simulation for  eight rounds. Each round is a year in the life of the company. Our scenario is that a sensor company monopoly has been broken up into six identical companies. This is now an oligopoly. (See, I learned a lot in Economics!)

Each company starts out with identical resources. Team members take on management positions within the company, making decisions in the areas of Marketing, Production, Research and Development, Human Resources, Total Quality Management and Finances. We have to work together, deciding our strategy and balancing our decisions to make our company successful.

Have I mentioned that a lot of us are competitive? So, of course, we all want to win the competition! And our companies compete at a national level with others who are also playing the Capstone simulation.

At first, I was very overwhelmed. As in any situation when you are learning a complicated game, it can be confusing. There are so many details to remember. This game changes constantly and,  just as in the real world, outside factors can affect your company. We can have a natural disaster that wipes out our main supplier (think tsunami), labor strikes, etc. We make decisions about production, pricing, capacity, employees, etc. based on our own  internal documents and what we know about our company. We also have the Capstone Courier which publishes all the vital statistics about the industry after each round. It’s exciting yet frustrating and even nerve-racking. We are trying to make sound decisions:  do we raise prices to increase our margins and risk losing market share? Or do we be bold and try to capture more market share? When do we invest in new technology? There’s so much to consider while trying to figure out which direction our competition will take.

Yet, once I read through the materials and we played a few practice rounds, it dawned on me. This is like fantasy football on steroids! I’ve played fantasy football for the past two years, competing against my brothers and friends. I have to analyze player’s statistics, the ranking of the offense and defense for each game, review the injury reports and even consider the weather conditions. Much to my brothers’ dismay, I won our league’s Super Bowl the past two seasons. The MBA simulation is similar but with more moving parts and instead of bragging rights, my team earns a grade. We can do this and what good practice before we step out into the real world.

So, as our team plans our strategy and begins Round One of the simulation, I say, “Let the games begin!”

Welcome & Welcome Back!

Ah, yesterday was the first day of classes in a new semester. It was a pretty good day. As I continue along in the SUNY Stony Brook College of Business MBA program, I make more friends. That makes the first day of classes not so intimidating. It was nice to see friendly smiles yesterday and to catch up on what classmates had done over the winter break.

In fact, it’s so comfortable that it’s easy to forget what it’s like to be a new student. I saw a few of those folks, too – some with bewildered looks, searching for the right classroom and looking a bit wide-eyed as the professor went over the syllabus. I want to let them know that everything really does fall into place. Before long, they will have their favorite seats in the classroom and phone numbers & emails of classmates to call when they need help. They will know which SINC site is open and when it’s available. They will learn where the grad study lab is, how to locate the graduate assistants and who Erica is. For those newbies – you have to know Erica. She has the answers to almost every question you might have about the MBA program. Marie is a great resource, too!

So, if you are a new student, welcome! If you need some help, simply ask. Everyone is friendly around here and we have all been the “new kid.” If you are a returning student, pay attention to those around you. If you see someone who looks befuddled or nervous, smile and offer your help. They will appreciate it and it’s a way to return the favor from a while ago when you were learning your way around Stony Brook.

PS I am willing to answer questions about the MBA program or reach out to Erica/Marie/classmates for answers I may not know…so feel free to post comments and questions here. We’ll figure it out together. Welcome!

Whirlwind Week in the City

All’s well that ends well…the Fall 2011 semester turned out just fine. In hindsight, it was a challenging semester but that’s when I learn a lot. That said, I am really glad Economics is behind me!! Great class – I learned so much – but tough for me.

After a wonderful Christmas with my “kids” flying in from San Diego and a relaxing New Year’s weekend, I packed my suitcase and headed into New York City. I registered to take a Winter Session class at Stony Brook’s Manhattan campus. Several of my MBA classmates raved about this class, Social Entrepreneurship, so I figured it was a great opportunity to learn more about a subject that intrigued me and have a week to explore the Big Apple.

So, what’s it like for a Midwestern girl from a town of less than 1000 people and with only one stoplight (really) to spend a week in Manhattan? Thrilling! I’ll recap the time for you all and give you my perspective on the adventure.

The class: it was intense because it was only five days long. Our instructors, Eddie Bergman and Sharon Roling prepared a week packed full of unique guest speakers and a field trip for us. The syllabus outlined a topic for each speaker. We had speakers from private, public and nonprofit enterprises covering topics such as:

• the definition of social entrepreneurship
• developing a social enterprise vision plan
• leadership branding
• innovation in leadership ( motivating others to identify with your vision plan)
• creating conditions for entrepreneurship
• international development
• the public sector and micro-finance initiatives
• how to pitch a social venture

Classwork: There was a lot of readings (case studies and articles) that were posted to Blackboard before the class. I strongly recommend that you read them all before the class even starts. You will re-read them during the week, use them as references and be asked to refer to the readings in your daily memos to the instructors. It’s a lot of reading to do after a day in the classroom.You will have to write daily memos, a position paper and an executive summary. You will make a PowerPoint presentation of a business idea to the class. I wish I had done more preparation ahead of the week for this.

Field trips: last winter’s class did more field trips, including ones to the United Nations and Google. Unfortunately, as the class becomes more well-known, it grows in size. We had 25 people. It is more difficult to schedule these field trips with a larger group of people. We did go to the Department of Commerce and that was very interesting.

The Stony Brook University Manhattan campus: it’s small and bare-bones. The folks there are very nice but there is not much more than a classroom and a tiny computer lab for printing. Due to size limitations, they ask that students arrive only one hour prior to class and use the lab just to print. So, get to know the local Starbucks ( but they have no outlets for laptops!!) and bring a laptop if you plan to stay in the city.

Lodging: I chose to stay in the city for the entire time rather than commute in daily from Stony Brook. I saw this as an opportunity to experience living in Manhattan for a week. Most of my classmates commuted in and, fortunately, the weather cooperated with no snow all week! however, it’s expensive to stay in NYC even during the slower weeks of January. I stayed at a hotel on 6th and 39th and walked everywhere. I paid more than my classmates -  but there were deals to be had, especially if you could double up with a friend. A classmate did call the SBU Manhattan campus office to ask about hotel recommendations but they didn’t have any advice for him. In hindsight, I might have tried to organize a group rate at a decent but not pricey hotel.

In summary: the class was very interactive with respectful but honest dialogue. Social Entrepreneurship is an elective so everyone in the class chose to be there and that showed. The credentials and experiences of my classmates were impressive – even the instructors commented on that. I felt that, after five days with these folks, I knew them well and we had all become friends. I think some lasting friendships and solid business relationships were forged. And the city: the food, the neon lights, the yellow taxis everywhere…it’s so exhilarating! We spent an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon soaking up the sun and people watching in Central Park. It was nice to be a city girl for a week!

Keep Calm and Carry on

It’s been a while since I have posted in this blog. Perhaps it’s because final exams are looming and group projects are overwhelming my schedule. Any resemblance of time management seemed to disappear this week!

So, I am taking a deep breath this morning and regrouping. I’ve cleared my desk, made a fresh pot of Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee (I wait all year for this!) and I’ve dug out the Christmas tunes. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have some visual aids that I keep on my desk. One is the little plump red elephant that reminds me not to get overwhelmed: to tackle each big project and even each day “bite by bite”.

The other was given to me by my good better-than-a-sister friend, Jean. She knows me well and knows how I can fret about deadlines, exams, and all the hurdles we have to stride over at Stony Brook University and in our personal lives, too. It’s a simple sign, framed in black that reads “Keep Calm and Carry On” with a red crown above the lettering. She urged me to place it right on my desk so that when she is not here in person to remind me to chill out, I am to read the sign aloud like a mantra.

For you trivia buffs, according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the sign is based on a poster printed and distributed by the British government in 1939 at the beginning of WWII. The poster was to raise the British citizens’ morale  in the event of an invasion. The poster was rediscovered in 2000 and the words have since been reprinted on a slew of products. There’s even a parody of it with the crown upside down: “Now Panic and Freak Out”. But let’s not go there, especially during finals week!

So, back to the point of this post. It’s a stressful two weeks ahead for me and many of my fellow MBA students at the College of Business. Here’s my advice:

• Don’t let panic set in. Write out a study plan and build your life around that for the next few weeks.
• Tackle each subject, final, project and presentation logically and with calm.
• Be focused and study hard for good chunks of time and then give yourself a reward (I prefer a walk around the block or chocolate or both.)
• Shut off the ringer on your cell phone, turn off Facebook and turn on the cell phone alarm for the amount of time you plan to study. Then lose yourself in your studies and, when the alarm rings, take a break. You earned it.
• Get some sleep – your brain won’t retain much if it’s exhausted. Sleep and plenty of water – not an overdose of caffeine – will help you to stay healthy. Some of our classrooms are like a petri dish with everyone coughing and sneezing!
• Find a serene study spot – clear the clutter from your desk! – and settle in.

Then repeat after me: “keep calm and carry on…”

Good luck with finals, everyone!