Upcoming MBA Related Events - October 2009 - Sustainability 501 Net Impact Sustainability week here at USC Marshall - our 1st annual Sustainability 501 event - a discussion panel and networking event created to discuss business policy & landscape of sustainability in today’s business world.

Panelists from companies including:

• Wal-Mart CSR
  
• Toyota
  
• Waste Management
  
• AC Propulsion
  
• Clinton Climate Initiative
  
• Los Angeles Mayor's Office of Economic Development
  
• Moderated by: Adlai Wertman, Director of the Society and Business Lab at USC Marshall

Check out these 2 upcoming MBA related events:

1. Net Impact Sustainability (NI:S) Committee Presents Sustainability 501
   Date: October 22 2009 / 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
   Location: Edison Auditorium (Basement of Hoffman Hall)[map to HOH]
   RSVP: RSVP here
   - FREE: For USC Marshall Net Impact Members
   - $10: Pre Registration
   - $25: At the Door
   Please email Sustainability501@gmail.com for more information.
   
   
2. SoCal Net Impact Fall Mixer
   Date: October 22 2009 / 9:00 pm - 12:00 am
   Location: West 4th and Jane - Santa Monica
   Come out and meet Net Impact members from other chapters in Southern California including UCLA, Pepperdine, and the LA Professional Chapter.

If you're interested in subscribing to the Net Impact newsletter, please email me at Andrew Choi.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Labels: MBA, Net Impact, Sustainability, USC Marshall

  ¶ 12:20 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  10 Advices for Incoming MBA Students USC Marshall Admit Weekend 2009 just came and gone this last weekend; I can't believe it has been a year already! I still remember when I was a bright-eyed, energetic prospective student during Admit Weekend last year meeting and getting to know all of my future friends and colleagues. This past year has been a marathon and I know every one of us has hit the wall at one point or another, but most of us survived to continue on. Now seeing this new class coming in is a bit rejuvenating - I think it made us all realized what we went through and why we all PAID to do this in the first place. MBA - Where Amazing Happens...

I have to say that I was very impressed with our new class of 2011. I met a lot of well-rounded, passionate individuals looking to make some moves in this world and I am definitely looking forward to working with this talented group of students.

My buddy Peter Mums had a panel on 'things I wish I had known prior to attending b school' during Admit Weekend for prospective students so I thought I would throw in my 2 cents on what I have learned over this past year personally or through friends.

1. Start early on career-related activities - look into summer MBA programs (P&G, the Consortium), get your resume & cover letters ready over the summer, get that internship before winter break. It will be a huge load off your back, trust me. Develop a strong relationship with your vertical lead.
   
   
2. Go to all the National Conferences (these are not exclusive, anyone can attend) - National Black, National Society of Hispanic MBAs, Net Impact Conference
   
   
3. If you are in a relationship, set expectations with your partner - This is a difficult stretch of time for most people and relationships. Talk it out, hug it out, tell your partner you'll be gone 'til November, of 2012...
   
   
4. Set up an internal network of trusted friends/colleagues after your first month - You will meet a lot of people quickly and develop a huge network, but setup a small group of people you can trust and count on. Business school is an emotional roller coaster and you will need people to lean on and hear you out when the going gets tough.
   
   
5. Get involved in a leadership position early - It's hard to stand out in a crowd when you are in a room with a bunch of type-As and driven individuals. Find a couple of clubs you are really passionate about and get to know everyone in that club. 2nd years are always looking for active 1st year students to take over and they want to make sure the club is in good hands once they leave.
   
   
6. Take risks - Business school is the best time for you to make mistakes. Do what you normally wouldn't do, work on your weaknesses, be a completely different person. You are paying for it - do what you want to do!
   
   
7. Case competitions - Do as many as you can! My take is that case competitions take you through the mental exercise of thinking about business from all perspectives and you get to see how you compete against top competitions from other schools.
   
   
8. Give back to the community - You will be really busy, but take time to volunteer and give back. As an MBA, you are a leader in your community and a role model for a lot of people. At USC Marshall, we have programs such as Net Impact Service Corps and C4C where we volunteer with many local non-profits and community organizations year after year.
   
   
9. Outlook Calendar is your best friend - Use it wisely to manage your time. Prioritize and don't stretch yourself too thin. Don't make a habit of triple-booking yourself.
   
   
10. Sleep a lot over the summer - You won't sleep much during the school year. Especially if you keep a blog. =P

Speaking of which, the Best of Blogging 2008-2009 results are in and my blog has been selected as #8 by the Clear Admit staff, nominated bloggers, and judges! I am honored by the selection and hope to continue to entertain, educate, and provide insight to the MBA experience and USC Marshall School of Business. Congrats to all the BoB winners - definitely check out all the blogs below:

Top 10 Applicant Blogs
1. TienyChesney - mbaveggie.blogspot.com
2. D.G. - www.managingmagic.com
3. Ahembeea - trystwithmba.wordpress.com
4. MissionMBA - missionmba.wordpress.com
5. Soni - sonismbaadventure.blogspot.com
6. PaloAltoForAwhile - paloaltoforawhile.blogspot.com
7. Choc Heaven - dreamer-choc.blogspot.com
8. Helen - lifelessordinary.typepad.com/my_weblog
9. Samantha - bestmbablogever.blogspot.com
10. OMGParisHilton - omgmbaapps.blogspot.com

Top Ten Student Blogs
1. MaybeMBA - tombaornot.blogspot.com
2. JulyDream - julydream.blogspot.com
3. Paragon2Pieces - paragon2pieces.blogspot.com
4. Hairtwirler - mbajamey.blogspot.com
5. Iday - i4iday.blogspot.com
6. TinyDancer - tinydancermba.blogspot.com
7. CS - www.computersexy.com/blog
8. Andrew - www.andrewmchoi.com
9. Mandy - mandylozano.blogspot.com
10. M@ - speedywithchicken.wordpress.com

Labels: Case Competition, Day in the Life of an MBA, MBA, USC Marshall

  ¶ 12:49 AM 3 Comments Links to this post

  Business School = 2 FT Jobs "If it’s done right, getting an MBA full time should be like having two full-time jobs," said Hayden Estrada, assistant dean of graduate admissions at the Boston University School of Management (link)

Two more weeks until school is over and everything is going full force right now. I don't even have time to construct a full blog post, but maybe just a stream of consciousness?

Got back from C4C Weekend up at Stanford on Sunday - came in 2nd behind UCLA for the Golden Briefcase. We'll get them next year...

4 projects going on concurrently: New Product Development (naan bakery); Market Demand and Sales Forecasting (credit card delinquency and demographics correlation); PRIME (Argentina Banco Galicia); Net Impact Service Corps (Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles)

Registered and got all my electives for next year:
BAEP 551, Introduction to New Ventures
MOR 571, Leadership and Executive Development
FBE 527, Entrepreneurial Finance
MKT 560, Marketing Strategy and Policy
IOM 547, Designing Spreadsheet-Based Business Models

Figuring out where to stay and what to do in Argentina after PRIME for about 4 days. Right now thinking about going to a River Plate soccer game and seeing Iguazu Falls, short-listed as a candidate to be one of the new 7 Wonders of the world.

Anyone have any great suggestions?

Looking for a place to stay in Milwaukee, WI for the summer and trying to figure out how to get there for my summer internship. Driving 2000 miles across the country doesn't sound very fun...

Marshall Net Impact is in full force - we have tons of events lined up for next year. Incoming class of 2011- if you're going to Admit Weekend on May 1-2, come by and visit our table! Sneak peek of events:

Sustainability

• Education Series – A series of student led education discussion designed to self educate members on sustainability issues (Carbon/GHG issues, regulatory issues, automotive technology, infrastructure, cradle to cradle)
  
• Sustainability 501 – Career panel of sustainable industries (Waste Management, Athens, etc)
  
• alterEnergy – Career panel of alternative energy companies (Axial, SoCal Edison, Solar Reserve)
  
• Take One Campaign – NI:S awareness program to reduce paper usage at JKP
  
• Company Site Visits – Field trips/recruitment trips to various companies such as Waste Management, Athens, and Toyota

Social Enterprise

• Nonprofit Board Leadership & Careers in Social Impact Panel
  
• Net Impact Service Corps
  
• Alumni Career Panel

California expects 100,000 'green' jobs to be created. Not only MBAs, but many green careers are available to applicants with less formal education and less traditional job experience. Check out opportunities in the Green Jobs Guidebook

3 finals, 2 quizzes, 1 PRIME exam... okay. Stream ends here; back to work.

Labels: Challenge for Charity, Day in the Life of an MBA, MBA, Net Impact, PRIME

  ¶ 1:59 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

  Increase the Value of Your MBA I just found out today that I was selected as 1 of 25 Clear Admit Best of Blogging nominees for 2008-2009! According to Clear Admit, the criteria for selection is two-fold: "First, we want to recognize and celebrate the best MBA applicant and student blogs covering the 2008-09 admissions cycle/academic year. Equally important is Clear Admit’s commitment to identifying valuable sources of information for the next round of MBA applicants and students."

I am definitely honored to be among a group of top MBAs crazy enough to do a full-time MBA and actually blog about the experience. As you can see from my last entry, Week in the Life, an MBA is a major commitment so I congratulate all the other nominees on that list for their time and dedication. Now all I ask is that Clear Admit lists USC / Marshall as one of the MBA programs under the MBA Programs: North America section. Students love USC Marshall! Just sayin'

---

I continue to find the conversation around the media circles and even among MBAs is the quote unquote, value of an MBA. Is the MBA losing its value and if so, what does that mean?

From a purely economical standpoint, yes, the value of an MBA is of course decreasing. With the influx of supply from the financial sector looking for work along with the increase in demand applying to business school to duck the recession, supply curve shifts right, equilibrium price falls. Obvious stuff. My eyes glazed over most of the time in GSBA 511 as the professor droned about supply and demand curves, but at least I learned that much.

From an institutional standpoint, many schools in recent years have gone the route of taking younger students with less experience, teaching them to maximize shareholder value at all cost, and funneling them into highly lucrative careers in finance. Pure capitalism. And why not? The top schools that understood the ranking game capitalized on the salary gap and continued to keep their top positions. The formula worked when Wall Street thrived and why fix it if it's not broken?

Well, it broke.

We, as MBAs, have taken the brunt of the criticism for the credit crisis. While not all institutions followed the same 'formula', most schools have started to reflect on their responsibilities of developing MBAs with an understanding of how to build responsible, sustainable businesses. Also, most businesses are starting to realize that long term wealth creation is about integrating business with society.

The term triple bottom line has been thrown around in recent years by smaller circles that focus on corporate social responsibility. Basically, the triple bottom line focuses on capturing the values and criteria for measuring organizational success: social, economic and environmental.

It is impetus for MBAs and prospective students that want to increase the value of their MBA to integrate the understanding of the triple bottom line into their MBA education. There are thousands of MBAs out there right now that will understand how to capture "economic" value better than you. But what will separate you from the pack is the value you add as a business leader who understands the long term consequences of decisions on society and sustainability.

That is why I am excited about my role as President of Marshall Net Impact this year. We are right now at a point in time where students are starting to understand the importance of sustainability and businesses are going through a fundamental shift toward embracing sustainability as a core competency and a global strategy. We, as Net Impact, are at the forefront of leading this change at business schools across the country and transforming this "greed is good" culture one student at a time. Huge challenges, but an opportune time.

The new way of doing business: "sustainability is good"

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader" - John Q Adams

Labels: Blogging, MBA, Net Impact, Triple Bottom Line Businesses, USC Marshall

  ¶ 5:51 PM 3 Comments Links to this post

  Upcoming MBA Related Events - January / February 2009 I am heading up to Lake Tahoe/Reno this week for a little snowboarding and gambling before school starts again on Jan 12. Before I head out, I just wanted to share some upcoming events in and around the Los Angeles area coming up this month. Great networking events and learning opportunities that will definitely stretch your mind.

Check out these 6 upcoming MBA related events:

1. 2009 MBA Poker Championship
   Date: Jan 16-18 2009
   Location: Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV
   
   Hundreds of 1st and 2nd year MBA students and alumni from business schools around the country will participate in this tournament weekend.
   
   - Play Texas Hold'Em
   - Network at Special Events hosted by Top Companies
   - Win Awards and Prizes
   - Las Vegas
   'nuff said.
   
   
2. Go Green Expo
   Date: Jan 23-25 2009
   Location: The Los Angeles Convention Center
   
   Go Green Expo, the brainchild of Bradford Rand and his team at Expo International, was conceived after a viewing of the film "An Inconvenient Truth." It prompted the question, "How can we make a difference?" This question resonated with Rand and his team and Go Green Expo was born.
   
   A truly unique event from the ground up, Go Green Expo will not only change your perception of environmentalism but also how events like this are produced and managed. Companies will showcase what they are doing to reduce their respective carbon footprint and you will learn about "eco-friendly" alternatives to current everyday products and services.
   
   
3. Entrepreneur Roundtable
   Date: Jan 28 2009 / 6 pm - 9 pm
   Location: Galen Center, USC
   
   The Entrepreneur Roundtable connects students with 20 successful entrepreneurs in an intimate setting. Hear the stories and learn about the rewards and challenges of being an entrepreneur.
   
   Sponsored by USC Marshall EVMA
   
   
4. Evolution of Entertainment Conference 2009
   Date: Jan 30 2009 / 12:30 pm - 5 pm
   Location: Bovard Auditorium, USC
   
   The Evolution of Entertainment Conference (e2) is a can't miss event for those who are interested in or currently working in the field of entertainment or new media.
   
   The e2 Conference is focused on the evolving changes that have made a tremendous impact on the business of entertainment. This event is an excellent educational and networking opportunity that will help industry newcomers and veterans alike understand the latest changes in the industry - as described by the decision makers themselves.
   
   Sponsored by USC Marshall BEA
   
   
5. Startonomics LA
   Date: Feb 6 2009 / 9 am - 6 pm
   Location: Korn Hall, Anderson School of Business, UCLA
   
   Startonomics is a one-day workshop designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs on how to create simple, actionable metrics; and how to use them to make better product and marketing decisions for long-term growth and startup success.
   
   Whether you’re launching a new startup, building a new product, or just in ‘concept’ mode – you’ll learn from veterans who’ve been there, done that, and won.
   
   
6. BIL 2009
   Date: Feb 7-8 2009 / 9 am - 5 pm
   Location: CSULB in Long Beach, CA
   
   Everyone knows TED - Ideas worth spreading. TED is a great place to sit and listen to interesting ideas. Many of these ideas make it online, and millions get to experience them.
   
   The catch for many of us is that TED is $6,000, which is too expensive for most people, including a great number with good ideas worth spreading. BIL has been created as a free space for people with ideas to come together and share them.
   
   BIL is an ad-hoc conference for people changing the world in big ways. It's a place for passionate people to come together to energize, brainstorm, and take action. BIL is free. Go to BIL, not TED.

Register. Sign up. Get out there. Go now! And let me know if you do go. Leave a comment.

See you when I get back...

Labels: Entrepreneurship, Green, MBA, Poker, TED.com, USC Marshall

  ¶ 7:36 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

  USC Marshall & Tribal Leadership One of the main reasons I chose to go to Marshall was its reputation as a team-oriented, collaborative business school. This was instilled upon us from day one and companies and recruiters love coming to Marshall because Marshall MBAs understand how to build and lead effective teams. One of the concepts we learned about during orientation was called Tribal Leadership.

The basic concept is that every company has tribes, often several, consisting of 20 to 150 people who know each other and work together. But while everyone "tribes", the culture of each tribe is different, as is its effectiveness. Improving a tribe's culture—and its chances for greater success—requires a tribal leader who not only understands the tribe but can leverage its collective assets to build a greater team. Top tribal leaders also excel at getting their groups "unstuck" and moving forward by putting the tribe members (rather than themselves) first.

The book starts with an accessible framework for evaluating corporate cultures, each with instantly recognizable traits -- from the DMV to Apple to your company. Stage 1: Life sucks. Stage 2: My life sucks. Stage 3: I'm great (and you're not). Stage 4: We're great (and they're not). Stage 5: Life is great.

While the vast majority of the working world is stuck in stages 2 and 3, Tribal Leadership delivers tools to help individuals and organizations break through to the next evolutionary stage.

USC Marshall Professor Dave Logan teamed with e-tailer Zappos.com, one of the most successful online shoe store, to make a free audio version of his 2008 business book, Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, available at Zappos.com. Here is an excerpt from the book:

"A Tribal Leader many of us know from history is George Washington. His single major contribution was in changing thirteen diverse colonies into one people. If we look into what Washington actually did, he built a single identity (measurable by what people said) to a series of networked tribes. One was the affluent class in Virginia society, perhaps fewer than a hundred people. Another was the Continental Congress, originally fifty- five delegates. The third was the officer class of the Continental Army. Each time, Washington led the group to unity by recognizing its “tribalness,” by getting its members to talk about what unified them: valuing freedom, hating the king’s latest tax, or wanting to win the fight. As he built the common cause in each tribe, a mission gelled and they embraced 'we’re great' language. Washington’s brilliance in each case was that the man and the cause became synonymous, with the leader shaping the tribe and the tribe calling forth the leader. This is how Tribal Leadership works: the leader upgrades the tribe as the tribe embraces the leader. Tribes and leaders create each other."

To receive the free audio book version of Tribal Leadership click here.

Labels: Books, Leadership, MBA, USC Marshall, Zappos.com

  ¶ 9:24 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

  MBA During Stock Market Crash I don't know what to make of this whole experience. While it's definitely a whole lot better to be on the sidelines in business school through this stock market crash mode of the likes we have never seen in our lifetime, it's also scary to think about the possibility of negative return on this huge investment. I graduated from undergrad in December 2001 after 9/11, dotcom bust, and Enron/Arthur Andersen so this is potentially deja vu all over again.

The economy is definitely the elephant in the room, but I can see the fear in every MBA's eyes and feel their concerns. It's like watching a bad horror movie; we watch investment banks that recruited on campus last year go under, a Wachovia carved up and sold to other banks, a GM potentially going bankrupt, and companies supposedly "too big to fail" are not in fact "too big" and "do fail". Fear, frustration, confusion, and despair are running rampant and there's not much that can be done about it be it $900B bailout plan, global interest rate cuts, or Fed buying up banks.

2nd years that are graduating in 2009 face a bleak market. Many of them are forced to broaden their job search and lower their standards. And most of the time when they settle for a lower position during an economic downturn, they'll rarely make up the financial differences in the long run.

1st years are holding their breathes and hoping that internship opportunities are still available and the market turns when we graduate.

And I can't even imagine how competitive this incoming class is going to be. With over 100,000 laid off just in the last month the number of applications will most likely double from the year before. The average GPA and GMAT scores from this year will make ours look tiny.

At times like these, I like to remind myself of this quote by Dale Carnegie, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

Labels: Business School, MBA, Stock Market

  ¶ 12:15 AM 0 Comments Links to this post