MBA students at Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business brought their best entrepreneurial ideas to this year’s second annual Broad MBA Business Plan Competition held Saturday, March 23, at the Wharton Center. The competition brought together Full-Time and Weekend MBA students to test their business acumen, receive expert feedback, and further develop skills for entrepreneurial ventures.

On-SITE® Oil Change Company— a business plan to bring the oil change service directly to the consumer — won a team of Weekend MBA students first place and $5,000. The team included Michael Casey, Jay De Veny, Bradley Schlesener, and Chris Tuckfield.

In second place, a team of first-year Full-Time MBA students won $2,500 in funding for their concept SEVA. Meaning “to help” in Hindi, SEVA aims to improve efficiency in India’s agricultural supply chain. Team members included Gaurav Badkar, Pianpian Lan, Jaimin Patel, Matt Penti, and Samir Raval.

“These are the kinds of opportunities that truly differentiate a Broad MBA from other MBA brands,” explains Zsuzsanna Fluck, Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Finance director and associate professor of finance. “While other business schools may have competitions, the Broad College does a nice job of tying together various facets of the Broad community. Students have been requesting more focus on entrepreneurial activities, and the MBA Business Plan Competition will serve as a cornerstone as we ramp up other opportunities for our students.”

Students presented to distinguished MSU alumni judges at the event, including Christine Gibbons (BA Accounting ’83), COO and president of HistoSonics; Anne Hiller (BA General Business Administration ’78), VP operations for Doctor.com; Tim Kennedy (BA General Business Administration ’70, MBA Finance ’72), president and COO (retired) of PKWare; and John Webb, founder of Quantum Reach. The final-round judges then gave advice to the students from their own entrepreneurial/venture capital experiences as part of a speaker panel. In addition, Forrest Carter, interim director of the Institute of Entrepreneurship, and marketing senior Josh Leider, whose team recently won the undergraduate business competition at Broad and the South by Southwest startup competition with their concept TempoRun, encouraged students to seek out entrepreneurship resources for students at MSU.

The competition was hosted by the Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Finance in collaboration with the Institute of Entrepreneurship and MBA program at the Broad College.

The Best Business Schools ranking placed the college overall at 43^rd, up from 44^th last year, and 19^th among public universities.

The U.S. News ranking is based on three primary measures: quality assessment (what business school deans and recruiters think about the program), placement success (average starting salaries and employment rates), and student selectivity (GMAT, undergrad GPA, and acceptance rates). Specialty rankings are based solely on ratings from educators at peer schools. According to U.S. News methodology, 448 schools were considered for this year’s ranking.

For the full rankings, please visit http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com. (Note: A premium subscription is required to view the complete “business specialties” rankings.)

“The focus of the week was on helping the students understand the policy issues and practical problems that businesses face when dealing with globalization, and providing students an opportunity to interface with faculty experts and industry leaders on various dimensions of international business,” says Sanjay Gupta, associate dean of MBA and professional master’s programs.

Global Perspective

During the week, the MBA students took part in classes ranging from “Leading with Cultural Intelligence: Managing Effectively across Cultures,” to “International Trade and Economics,” and “Global Sustainability,” among others. These courses were taught by MSU and Broad College faculty, as well as speakers from the week’s corporate partner, Dow Chemical. Put into teams, the students were also tasked with writing a paper on global sustainability.

“Our students expect to work for multinational corporations and organizations that impact business and industry on a global scale,” says Wayne Hutchison, Full-Time MBA director of academic programs and student services, explaining the importance of these lessons. “Because of this, students need to be aware of the challenges of doing business on a global scale, from multiple perspectives.”

Real-World Knowledge

With exposure to the academic, corporate, and governmental perspectives associated with international business, the week’s activities provided real-world examples of the challenges in global business today. Dow Chemical’s senior leadership, for example, discussed “International Financial Reporting Standards” and the logistical concerns surrounding management and operation of more than 600 entities, as well as political and economic factors that come with doing business in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Rick Simonds, professor of finance, acted as the week’s faculty advisor. He emphasized the value of student’s exploring their role in international and global business issues. “Students are entering a work force where a premium is placed on individuals with knowledge and enthusiasm for international assignments,” he says. “This week helped raise awareness and prepare our students for the complexities and opportunities of firms in the global marketplace.”

In addition to the out-of-the-classroom BroadWeek experiences, MBA students are encouraged to participate in study abroad programs and utilize resources such as Global Edge, an online source for global business knowledge available through the International Business Center in the Broad College. These collective opportunities prepare Broad students to be competitive in a global business world.

Created through a gift from the John and Marnie Demmer family, the center provides consulting, advisory, and educational services by faculty members and students to help Michigan-based companies strengthen their competitive performance.

The Demmer family’s gift also created an endowment that provides funding for faculty members and students to work with companies and for educational grants to smaller companies that enable them to participate in executive education programs offered by the center. 

“We’ve created a model where businesses can tap the expertise and talents of Broad faculty and students at a much lower cost than traditional consulting firms, and students have the chance to tackle real business problems,” says Jim Manley, managing director of the Demmer Center.  “We’re interested in students who have a natural curiosity and take initiative.”

Students who are accepted to the center work under the direction of Manley, who learned lean processes from Toyota.

Broad MBA students Cristen Rinderknecht and Juan Marcano

The opportunities available to MBAs, undergraduates, and even applied engineering students, offer paid hands-on experience helping to create business solutions for companies throughout the state. Last summer, the Demmer Center employed one student and, to date, 29 students work with the center to assist Michigan-based companies.

 Becoming a bilingual business leader
One of those students is second-year supply chain MBA Juan Marcano, who is working with Saginaw company Mistequay Group Ltd., a manufacturer of precision, prototype, and production tools. The company imports and distributes parts from a plant in Costa Rica it acquired but is facing challenges, including language barriers and efficiency issues.  Manley and Marcano traveled to Costa Rica with several representatives from Mistequay to assess processes and speak with employees. This gave Marcano another job—that of translator. A native of Venezuela, he was able to translate for the Michigan delegation and better understand the roles and concerns of the employees.

 “Juan was essential to this project,” says Manley. “Being able to speak the language was a huge asset, and by the end he was creating reports for the executive in charge of the plant.”

 To address the plant’s challenges, Marcano had to understand the process that is required to manufacture each product.

 “After I put together the report detailing the plant’s issues, I began working on solutions that will improve production,” says Marcano. “This plant has 20 different processes to build the tools it makes, so it needs better ways to measure efficiency.”

 Marcano’s work on projects with Mistequay as well projects with the Michigan Department of Treasury has added to his expertise in supply chain. He’s accepted a position in procurement as a commodity manager for American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas.

 “Working with companies through the Demmer Center gives me exposure to real issues in business and is a great complement to what I’m doing in class,” says Marcano. “The workshops offered through the center on topics like lean principles are also things I can apply to my future position.”

 Consulting with confidence
Cristen Rinderknecht, a second-year marketing MBA, was the first female student hired by the Demmer Center, setting a high bar with her performance.

“Cristen is tenacious in the best possible way,” says Manley. “This is a quality that will serve her well in the future. Students have to take the initiative if they want to work with the Demmer Center and her persistence paid off.”

Rinderknecht currently works with Demmer Center partner company MetaOps, a consulting and training services company in Livonia, Michigan. She is being trained as an apprentice MetaExpert—what MetaOps calls its consultants—and will join the company full time upon graduation. For one of her current projects, Rinderknecht is taking part in a value stream mapping project with the State of Michigan for its Michigan Education Trust.

She credits much of the experience she’s gained working with the Demmer Center for preparing her for a consulting career.

 “I have learned not only the tools to use to diagnose problems and create solutions, but also about the reality of consulting, for which there is a great need for people management,” says Rinderknecht. “By combining real practice with learning experiences, I am being equipped to walk into the real world understanding exactly what I have to do not only to create a great solution, but more importantly, to empower people to implement it.”

As Rinderknecht and fellow Broad MBAs working with the Demmer Center gain business experience, they also have opportunities to contribute something to their younger peers. These MBAs get paired with undergraduate students, mentoring them as they navigate their own path into the world of business.

“If you make it into this organization, you will find yourself with the group of motivated and involved students you’ve been looking for,” says Rinderknecht. “This team is the elite of the elite from both the undergraduate and MBA programs and both contribute equally.”

Learn more at ie.broad.msu.edu/demmer-center

The waiver, which would remove the requirement for an international applicant to provide a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score, International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score, or Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE A) score, requires that an applicant have completed high school and college with English as the medium of instruction. In addition, the person must have taken the GMAT or GRE standardized test. To be eligible for the waiver, the applicant must also be shortlisted and offered an interview, at which time they are required to complete a face-to-face interview with an MBA representative.

For eligible applicants, the waiver is not automatic and must be requested. Applicants requesting the waiver should submit a paragraph in the ‘optional essay’ section of their application that explains their academic background and provide proof that instruction was in English. Acceptable forms of proof include either a copy of transcripts/diplomas that specifies English as the medium of instruction or a letter from the institution certifying the same. Finally, applicants must receive GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) scores equal to or greater than 4.0 on a scale of 0-6, as well as complete the interview requirements specified by the MBA program.
If a student falls under the waiver and will be a teaching assistant at MSU, they must still pass the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) test. There will be no exceptions made to this policy.

For complete information on the Broad College of Business Full-Time MBA policy on English language proficiency requirements, please visit: http://mba.broad.msu.edu/admissions/criteria/international/.

This year’s case involved the development of a new business strategy for HCL Technologies, a software technology company. The 44 participants were asked to develop and present a strategy for the company to achieve growth in sales and market share while continuing the company’s upward progression.

The HCL Technologies case was distributed to the students early in the morning on Friday, January 25th. After 24 fast-paced hours spent researching, developing ideas, and creating presentations, the 11 teams presented their ideas to a panel of 16 alumni and industry judges on Saturday, January 26.

With their strong case analyses and professional presentations, the MBA students impressed the judges with the caliber of talent and enthusiasm in the Broad Full-Time MBA program. Judges also took the time to give feedback in a number of areas to give students additional perspectives on how to improve their skills as they continue to develop into the business leaders of tomorrow.

All participants are to be commended for the professional way they represented the Broad MBA community.   The following teams were named the 2013 Broad v. Broad winners:

First Place: Dane Carey, Mark Evans, Chelsea Hallman and Greg Mendez
Second Place: Lily Lan, Kalpana Prabhu, Samir Raval and Zachary Tomlinson
Third Place: Xufeng Jian, Christopher Marchese, Sulaiman Ramli and Sally Sproat
Fourth Place: Xujin Gong, Mihir Khare, Ryan Olson and Laura Schmitz

First Place Team: (L-to-R) Chelsea Hallman, Dane Carey, Mark Evans, Gregory Mendez

In addition to the team awards, four individual participants were recognized at the conclusion of the first round for their outstanding communication skills. Winners of the Best Communicator Awards were Jason Dangles, Mark Evans, Robin Hannum, and Emily Strickler. Two participants were recognized for their presentation and question-and-answer skills in the final round of the competition. The winner of the Best Presenter Award was Zach Tomlinson, and the winner of the Best Q&A Award was Mark Evans.

The Broad College MBA program would like to extend a sincere “Thank you!” to each of the corporate judges who gave their time and expertise to this event:

Broad v. Broad judges

Broad v. Broad Case Competition Judges:
Andy Almy (MBA ’97), BorgWarner
Freda Bane-Prastitis (EMBA ’05), Chrysler Group
Alex Bogoevich (EMBA ’06), Ernst & Young, LLP
Brent Clore (MBA ’10), Johnson & Johnson
Dennis Connors (MBA ’04), Eaton Corporation
Nancy Finley (MBA ’12), Sears Holdings Corporation
Andrew Gerould (MBA ’10), Eaton Corporation
Gary Jackett, Johnson & Johnson
MaryAlice LeDuc, L Marketing
Jason MacIver (BA Supply Chain Management ’99), Dell
Justin Murray (BA Finance ’07, MBA ’12), Mars
Stephen Olson (WMBA ’11), Apple
Eric Schmidt (BA Supply Chain Management ’03, MBA ’09), Amway
Doug Taylor, Carlisle B&F
Joanne Ulnick (BA Business ’83), Ducker Worldwide
Corey Vickers, Chevron

The Global Business Club of Mid-Michigan hosted speaker Michael Lawton, CFO, Domino’s Pizza, Inc. on Friday, February 01, 2013 at the MSU Henry Center.  He spoke on “Managing a Global Brand in a Franchise Environment.”  The event was co-sponsored by the Michigan State University Broad College of Business Weekend MBA Program.

Video of this event

Michael Lawton Bio- A seasoned professional with more than three decades of global general management and finance experience, Michael Lawton was named chief financial officer of Domino’s Pizza Inc. in September 2010. He brings a solid background in strategic planning, financial analysis, business acquisitions and divestitures, financial reporting and capital management to his role as the financial leader of the publicly traded entity (NYSE:DPZ). He is responsible for financial planning, analysis, public reporting, treasury and risk management and for creating shareholder value through the strategic management of resources and by working to improve the results of the company’s operating units.

Lawton joined Domino’s Pizza in 1999 as head of finance for the company’s international division, using his experience to reduce costs, improve profits and accelerate growth opportunities for existing Domino’s franchise companies and to provide a model for growth in the company’s emerging markets. In 2004, he took the reins as executive vice president of the international division. Under his leadership, the division drove a retail sales compounded annual growth rate of 12%, and added more than 1,100 stores in both existing and new markets around the world. The division accounts for over 45% of the company’s global retail sales, and is among the strongest international models in the restaurant sector.

For 13 years prior to joining Domino’s, Lawton was with Gerber Products Company, serving as its corporate controller and vice president of international finance before moving into general management positions. These included president of Gerber’s Alima division in Poland, president of its baby care division and senior vice president and chief operating officer of its U.S. baby food operations. In these general management roles, he utilized his financial background while gaining solid operational experience that led to sales growth and profits.

A certified public accountant, Lawton holds a B.A. in accounting from Michigan State University and a MBA from Grand Valley State University. Lawton, his wife Janet and two sons reside in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Broad College has ranked among the top four in this category, in which graduates measure the effectiveness of the career services they received as MBA students, since 2001.

In addition, Broad saw gains in the overall Full-Time MBA ranking, jumping to 62nd globally, up 15 spots from 77th in the 2012 rankings. The college placed 32nd among U.S. MBA programs, up from 40th last year.

“We are thrilled our alumni continue to rate the Full-Time MBA program at Broad so highly,” says Sanjay Gupta, associate dean for MBA and professional master’s programs. “This ranking is a testament to our dedicated faculty and staff who provide exceptional programs and personally assist students in finding quality internships and job opportunities to achieve their career ambitions.”

The program also saw improvements in “aims achieved,” which measures the extent alumni feel they fulfilled their goals for obtaining an MBA. The college moved up to 58th globally from 65th last year, and ranks 35th among U.S. schools. 

Financial Times surveys graduates three years after they complete their degree to assess the impact of the MBA on their subsequent career progression and salary growth, in addition to giving feedback on the program and career services. Other factors in the ranking include diversity, international reach of the program, and a research rank based on articles published by the college’s full-time faculty members. 

For the full 2013 Financial Times rankings, visit www.ft.com.

The Broad College’s Full-Time MBA program provides hands-on learning in a team-focused environment. Students have direct access to distinguished faculty and opportunities to network with Spartan alumni from around the world. The college also offers a Weekend MBA program for working professionals.

Featured in: Lansing State Journal, Crain’s Detroit Business, MLive, and The State News.

Eli Broad, alumnus and namesake of the college, talked about his views on business, the future of education, and philanthropy with students, faculty, staff, and other guests.

An hour-long discussion with Broad was moderated by Sanjay Gupta, associate dean for MBA and professional master’s programs, followed by audience questions. Broad spoke about his start as an accountant and how he built and lead Fortune 500 companies SunAmerica and KB Home (formerly Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation). He emphasized the importance of philanthropy — which he said anyone can do, from giving time to money to leadership — as well as the need to take risks.

Broad also discussed his new book, The Art of Being Unreasonable, and after the dialogue, signed complimentary copies of the book for the audience.

Broad and his wife, Edythe, were in East Lansing for the dedication and grand opening of the new Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. The museum, a modern designed by architect Zaha Hadid, will house contemporary art.

In 1991, Broad made what was at the time the largest gift ever made to a public business school — as well as a gift that changed the face of the college. The college was renamed in his honor. Every year since, he has continued his support.

A standing-room-only crowd greeted Eli Broad to the Broad College of Business on November 9.

Sanjay Gupta, associate dean for MBA and professional master’s programs, interviewed Mr. Broad and then opened the room to questions.

Brett Neller, second-year MBA student and president of the MBA Association, presented Mr. Broad with a gift following the talk.

Mr. Broad signed copies of his new book, The Art of Being Unreasonable.

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon greeted Mr. Broad when he arrived at the college.