EMBA News 

Scott M. Smith, James Passey Professor of Marketing and director of the BYU Institute of Marketing, has been selected as a 2006-2007 Fulbright Scholar to Moldova. The Fulbright Scholar program is sponsoring Smith to develop a marketing and entrepreneurship curriculum in the small, former Soviet-block country.

KAM Accelerometer, Inc., a company touting an electronic personal fitness device that measures expended kinetic energy, walked away — make that ran away — with first place at Brigham Young University’s annual Business Plan Competition. A panel of business and venture capital professionals awarded KAM $50,000 in cash and in-kind services for the March 31 victory.

Brigham Young University's business and law schools are among the top 50 in the United States, reports U.S. News & World Report in its "America's Best Graduate Schools" issue, on sale Monday, April 3. Other BYU graduate programs and specialties rank in the top 100 in their categories. The J. Reuben Clark Law School is ranked 34th, and the Marriott School of Management is also ranked 34th.

More than $100,000 in cash and business services are up for grabs Friday as judges pick the most promising new enterprises at Brigham Young University’s Business Plan Competition. The final event, where one of three final teams will walk away with the grand prize valued at $50,000, will take place at 2 p.m. in room 140 of BYU’s Joseph Smith Building.

Who picks up the tab when you go to lunch with a billionaire? Warren Buffett, the world’s second-richest man, treated 22 BYU students to lunch and a 90-minute Q&A session in Omaha, Neb. The students, enrolled in investment classes, and their professors from the Marriott School of Management, jumped at the invitation to meet with Buffett — arguably the world’s greatest investor.

Officials from BYU’s Marriott School of Management announce the naming of the Global Management Center for former Eastman Kodak Company CEO. The late Kay Whitmore, who worked for Kodak for 36 years and led the company for three, was known for his business acumen and integrity. He was supported in his rise to CEO by his wife of 48 years, Yvonne.

A face-off between academics and chief financial officers may not sound like the most electrifying of showdowns, but a new Brigham Young University study that pits generally accepted theories against real-world behavior has important implications for investors considering companies' initial public offerings.

The Marriott School of Management jumped four spots in the 2006 Financial Times rankings of the top 100 global MBA programs. The London-based paper ranked Brigham Young University’s Marriott School in the top 50 for the second consecutive year. The school, which ranked 45th overall and 27th in the United States, was also listed among the top ten programs for accountancy and the highest percentage salary increase of North American schools.

At a time when public confidence in business is at a low ebb, Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management has released a new book that shows integrity and success are not contradictory in the business world but complementary. Featuring compelling speeches at BYU by top CEOs and educators, the book, “Business with Integrity,” inspires readers to keep the bottom line in proper perspective and conduct business with honesty and character.

All employees live with the reality that annoying coworkers, unrealistic quotas or a difficult boss may someday spark a search for different employment; but what could cause your boss to go looking for a new job, creating uncertainty for you? A new study by John Bingham, assistant professor of organizational leadership and strategy at Brigham Young University, found that executives don't mind pressure to perform, as long as they are given freedom to achieve the high standards.

The 2006 edition of The Princeton Review’s “Best 237 Business Schools” named BYU’s Marriott School the nation’s “Most Family-Friendly” business school. “This should come as no surprise,” says Jim Stice, MBA director. “Since our goals and objectives of the MBA program are aligned with those of the Church, it is our responsibility and commitment to be family-friendly.” The “Most Family-Friendly” ranking is based on a student assessment of: how happy married students are, how helpful the school is to students with children and how much the school does for the spouses of students.

Google’s announcement last week that it has earmarked $265 million of the money raised in its public stock offering for charity resurrects a long-standing debate over whether or not companies should be involved in philanthropic efforts. And although detractors contend that money spent on charity should go back into shareholders’ pockets, a new study in the “Academy of Management Review” by a Brigham Young University business professor argues that a track record of corporate giving protects a company much like an insurance policy, adding to overall value and shielding shareholders’ investment in the event of misfortune.

The Wall Street Journal has for the second consecutive year placed the Marriott School’s MBA program in the top ten among smaller (regional) programs worldwide. The school ranked sixth in 2005 and was fifth in 2004. BYU moved up among schools listed for excellence in accountancy to fourth and retained its second place standing, behind Yale, as the best place to hire graduates with high ethical standards.

Students at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management selected two of their classmates and a professor to receive the 2005 Merrill J. Bateman Awards – the only school-wide awards selected entirely by students. Julie Dougall, a Masters of Accountancy student, and Brian Crapo, an undergraduate business management student, received the Merrill J. Bateman Outstanding Student Awards.

Brigham Young University’s Romney Institute of Public Management named Olene S. Walker, former governor of Utah, as the 2005 Administrator of the Year. A scholarship was also founded in her honor. “Through my years of involvement in the private sector, in the public sector and with my family, I have found that money, fame, and power do not bring happiness,” Walker told guests at a banquet in her honor.

Alianza, a company that offers reduced telephone rates to Mexican residents by routing calls through the Internet, was named winner of the 2005 Business Plan Competition. Brian Beutler, CEO of Alianza, and Scott Bell, CTO of Alianza, accepted the $50,000 award of cash and in-kind services at the BPC finals April 1.

Everybody knows a few "employee superstars" who are so good at their jobs they get "poached," or lured away -- often with a pay increase -- to a different company or industry. But less familiar is a practice called "talent raiding," a human resources technique that most managers don't want to admit they actually use.

Brigham Young University's business and law schools are among the top 50 in the United States, reports U.S. News & World Report in its "America's Best Graduate Schools" issue, on sale Monday, April 4. Three other BYU graduate programs are in the top 100 in their categories, with additional specialties also ranked.

Utah Valley residents will have the chance to hear from Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. when he addresses the Brigham Young University community Thursday, March 31, during the Rollins Center for eBusiness' second winter semester eBusiness Day. Gov. Huntsman will speak on economic development in the community and the role of e-business.

Marriott School students, faculty and administrators are challenged to race the stairs for the BYU Annual Fund. The event will take place in the Tanner Building on March 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. “Last year was a great success and we were able to raise some money for a great cause,” says James Clark, second-year MBA student and graduate student council president. “This year is looking to be even better than last year.” On your mark: Runners will climb the atrium stairs to the fourth floor move to the east stairwell and finish climbing to the seventh floor.