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Three New Courses Build Broad Skills A trio of new MBA courses have been designed to enablestudents to layer compelling skills on top of the foundation of business fundamentals taught in the program. Problem solving: In this required course, students are challenged to think integratively and to wrestle with complexity and ambiguity as they tackle six open-ended case studies in rapid succession. The course is taught by Management Professor Viva Bartkus, a former McKinsey partner, and presents business problems from a wide range of industries. Consulting: This elective, taught by Management Professor and Associate Dean Edward Conlon, focuses on how to put solutions into action. Students grapple with questions of implementation and test their abilities to put forward their ideas with energy and impact during presentations to corporate executives. Innovation: In Management Professor Matt Bloom’s elective course, students explore key principles of innovation and design to learn methods for fostering creativity and idea generation in organizations. “Both innovation and design rely on being able to see the world around you differently from the way most people see it so that you can spot where improvements are needed or where changes can happen,” explains Bloom.
During the past two years, a growing number of MBA students have participated in offshore learning experiences—245 students in all. As part of the Interterm Intensive offerings, students explored the political, economic and business aspects of U.S. relationships with the European Union in Brussels, Belgium and the rising Chinese economy in Suzhou and Shanghai, China. A longer seven-week South American immersion program continued in Santiago, Chile. According to Assistant Dean Sam Gaglio, student interest is strong for the offshore experiences and a future program in India is being evaluated. Student-Organized Leadership Conference “The Courage of a Leader” was the theme for the 2007 MBA Leadership Conference, an annual event for alumni, business leaders and MBA students held in the Mendoza College. Keynote speaker Jimmy Dunne (ND ’78), a managing partner at Sandler O’Neill, spoke about leading his company in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Interterm Intensive Offerings Launched in 2005, the Interterm Intensive curriculum offered highly interactive one-week courses at the midpoint of each semester. With corporate cases, organizations brought the MBA students current business problems to consider. The students researched the issues and then presented their findings and recommendations to company leaders for feedback. During the last four semesters, students worked on the following cases
The Interterm Intensive format also offers focused courses taught by expert practitioners. Recent topics included:
MBA Career Development Adds Experienced Alumni John Rooney (MBA ’95) and Pat Perrella (ND ’90) recently returned to their alma mater, bringing broad corporate experience to their new roles as senior associate directors in career development. Rooney, who spent 12 years in marketing with Chevron and Georgia Pacific, will work with companies and counsel students interested in careers in marketing or general management. Perrella, who has 12 years global experience with Citigroup in various finance positions, will work with financial organizations and assist students seeking banking and corporate finance opportunities.
Students Advise Catholic Schools Shrinking enrollments and rising costs are putting financial pressure on Catholic primary and secondary schools nationwide. MBA students recently took on the challenge of helping school superintendents and school boards deal with these trends. During spring 2007, under the direction of Professors Viva Bartkus and Edward Conlon, students worked with administrators from the local Catholic diocese on a pilot project to prepare a business case study and instructor’s guide for use in the training of school principals. They also developed a set of tool kits for financial data tracking, marketing and strategic planning. These materials were used this summer in Notre Dame’s ACE Leadership Program, a certification program for school principals.
MBA Student Profile Rises Students entering the two-year MBA program in August 2007 scored an average of 673 on the GMAT standardized test, a record high for the program. Members of this class of 129 students also bring an average of more than four years of work experience to the program and some interesting life stories:
Float That Bond MBA students learned the fine points of how companies borrow money by floating a mock bond issue with Morgan Stanley in an applied finance course taught by Professor Jerry Langley. In fall 2006, students served as analysts for the fictional company Golden Dome Inc., which was seeking to finance the acquisition of a French airline. They reviewed proposals and documents and gained market insight through weekly conference calls with Morgan Stanley investment bankers. At the end of the seven-week course, they closed the deal. “I try to tell students how it really works out there,” explains Langley. “This is how you do public debt financing.” Langley speaks from experience. He spent 17 years with McDonald’s Corporation, where he arranged financing for restaurant expansion around the world.
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More than 65% of MBA Students Participate in Offshore Immersion Programs
| © 2007 University of Notre Dame • Last Updated: October 10, 2007 |