EMBA News 

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches. The Marriott School’s holiday tree holds more than just pretty ornaments, it holds the promise of Christmas for many needy families in Utah County. "We want to get as many people from the Marriott School involved as possible and offer everyone an opportunity to give a little bit of service to someone else," says Kiley Hunt, a first-year MPA student helping with the project. The annual Angel Tree service project — sponsored by the United Way — provides three options to help meet the needs of families and individuals in Utah County.

Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management is honoring the late Sheri Joy Bischoff, professor of organizational behavior, with a new scholarship to assist MBA candidates studying organizational behavior and human resources. Bischoff’s family, friends, former students and colleagues made contributions totaling more than $40,000 to create an endowed scholarship in her name.

The Wall Street Journal ranked Brigham Young University’s Master of Business Administration Program first in the nation among regional schools in the paper’s 2007 report of top business programs, up from third in 2006 and sixth in 2005. The Marriott School was also ranked No. 2 among the best schools for hiring graduates with strong ethical standards behind Dartmouth College.

Two Brigham Young University business professors explored how companies can effectively enter attractive markets dominated by entrenched rivals in a recent issue of the Harvard Business Review. For example, how could Red Bull, the soft drink that arrived in the United States in the late 1990s, capture market share that belonged to industry giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi? Although most similar market-grabbing attempts fail, David J. Bryce and Jeffrey H. Dyer identified the three strategies most commonly used by those tiny Davids who methodically slay - or at least wound - seemingly insurmountable Goliaths.

Forbes magazine ranks Brigham Young University’s MBA program 18th in return on investment in its biennial survey of two-year business programs, as reported in the magazine’s Sept. 3 issue. “We’ve always been a strong value,” says Ned C. Hill, dean of BYU’s Marriott School of Management. “That’s because we not only attract well-prepared and talented students but also receive tremendous support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The planned addition to the N. Eldon Tanner Building is officially underway after ground was broken on the campus of Brigham Young University April 25. The groundbreaking ceremony was conducted by President Cecil O. Samuelson, with Elder W. Rolfe Kerr of the Seventy and Commissioner of Church Education, presiding over activities.

Hosted by the Marriott School’s William G. Dyer Institute for Leading Organizational Change, the organizational behavior/human resources faculty group and Department of Organizational Leadership and Strategy presented Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, with its 2007 Distinguished Alumni award.

A team of students from Brigham Young University took third place and won $2,000 at the international finals of the tenth annual Venture Capital Investment Competition, held April 12-14 at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Originally a wild-card entry into the tournament, BYU finished behind MIT and the University of Virginia, becoming the second wild-card team ever to place in the tournament’s top three.

Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management honored Steven R. Thorley with its 2007 Outstanding Faculty Award, the highest faculty distinction given by the school. The award was presented at a banquet March 21 where the school also recognized 11 other individuals who have made significant contributions.

The Marriott School MBA Marketing Association teamed up with national representatives from Wal-Mart, Inc. for an evening of humanitarian service and business networking. “Both BYU students and Wal-Mart want to give back to the community,” says Greg Chandler, national director of reputation marketing for Wal-Mart. “Service is core to both institutions’ purposes.” Wal-Mart donated energy-efficient light bulbs to The Center for Women and Children in Crisis in Provo as part of the night of service.

A team of five MBA students from the Marriott School of Management won first place in the wild card round of the Venture Capital Investment Competition, held Jan. 19 at Santa Clara University in California. “It was an intense two-day competition, and we didn’t sleep much,” says Dan Hemmert, a second-year MBA student from Orem, Utah, and a member of the team. “Everybody helped out, though.

An increase in the stock market's overall performance, like the one that took place in October, can turn inexperienced investors into trade-happy amateurs, according to Brigham Young University business professors in a study published in The Review of Financial Studies. "When investors start off in the market, they tend to trade pretty conservatively," said Steven Thorley, the H. Taylor Peery professor of finance at BYU's Marriott School of Management. "In periods where the overall stock market performs well, they see a good return on their portfolio and figure they are good at picking stocks, so they start to trade more frequently."

Brigham Young University’s master of business administration program provides graduates with the country’s fastest return on their financial investment, according to BusinessWeek magazine. As reported in this week’s issue of the magazine, BYU MBA graduates take less than four years to pay off their education, compared to 14 years for Harvard graduates and 15 years for those from MIT. The reason? BYU’s Marriott School of Management charges a relatively low tuition and students command very competitive salaries at graduation, says Joseph Ogden, Marriott School assistant dean.

The Wall Street Journal ranked Brigham Young University’s Master of Business Administration Program third among regional schools in the paper’s 2006 report of top business programs, up from sixth in 2005. The Marriott School was listed second as the best place to hire MBAs with high ethical standards.

Precision Surveying Solutions is featured on CNNMoney.com as one of 12 semifinalists in Fortune Small Business’ fourth annual business plan competition. The company, owned by MBA student Adam Robertson and Tim Wessman, took second place in BYU’s 2006 Business Plan Competition. The article on CNNMoney.com displays a brief overview of the twelve semifinalists; readers are asked to vote on their favorite.

Marriott School Professor Scott Smith, director of Brigham Young University’s Institute of Marketing, will testify as an expert witness in the Federal court case of ACLU v. Gonzalez — a case addressing the negative effects of Internet pornography. Smith, an authority in the field of Internet marketing, was selected to prepare and present findings about the effects that the Child Online Protection Act will have on Internet business.

Firefighter, doctor and teacher are common answers to the elementary classroom question: what do you want to be when you grow up? But in Hershey, Pa., global chocolatier might get a few votes — especially from Andrea Thomas’ kids. Thomas, Marriott School alumna, mother of three, and possessor of what may be the sweetest corporate title to date, was recently highlighted as one of BusinessWeek’s 25 Champions of Innovation.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded BYU a four-year grant worth $1.4 million to continue its work as a Center for International Business Education and Research. The grant allows BYU to work with other CIBER schools across the nation to improve international business and language courses. Brooke Derr, director of the Marriott School’s Global Management Center, spent last summer drafting the proposal with help from center staffers and Associate Professor Kristie Seawright. According to Derr, some of the key factors in winning the grant include an extensive offering of business language courses, BYU’s geographic location and several proposed programs.

It is not everyday students hear from someone whose life surpassed their dreams. Dell CEO Kevin Rollins spoke to Marriott School graduates encouraging them to dream big and live even bigger at Friday’s convocation. Rollins, the keynote speaker, told students that in addition to dreaming big they should work hard, give back and maintain balance.

Two weeks before Kristen DeTienne moved into her new home, she called the phone company to pre-install a new phone line. The company didn't come through and she had to live for weeks without a phone. "The organization later faced a class-action lawsuit, and I got a rebate check as part of the settlement," said DeTienne, a Brigham Young University professor of organizational leadership and strategy in the Marriott School of Management. "Customer service problems can be very expensive for companies, and a lot of times they don't think about the long-term costs and the loss of loyalty issues they create."