Fall 2013 Communique

DAN IE L S C O L L E G E O F B US I NE S S | UNI VE R S I T Y O F D E NVE R

NEWS ABOUT THE DANIELS PIONEER NETWORK: IMBA PIONEERS AROUND THE WORLD

IMBA Inside |

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Announcements................................. pg 2 The Faces of the IMBA Program........... pg 3 Global Theory in Practice.................... pg 4 Welcome Dr. Sharon Alvarez.............. pg 5 IMBA Network .................................. pg 6 Alumni Notes.................................... pg 7 GO-IMBA: ON SAFARI IN TARANGIRE GAME PARK, TANZANIA

Photo Contest.................................... pg 8

Why the International MBA? Doing business in the 21st century involves crossing borders and cultures, and requires a different kind of leader. The Daniels International MBA (IMBA) prepares students for careers in a highly complex and globalized business environment. An MBA program at its core, the IMBA provides a solid business foundation taught by faculty with deep international experience, and includes the Compass courses required in our other MBA programs. In addition to their Daniels course work, students take classes at the renowned Korbel School of International Studies that help develop practical international management skills and a broad global perspective. The Daniels IMBA features a required international travel course—past trips have gone to places such as Tanzania, Brazil and China—and a second-language proficiency requirement.

Originally founded as the Master of International Management (MIM) in 1975— one of the first graduate business programs in the country to focus on global business— the Daniels IMBA gives students the global perspective, business skills and cross-cultural training to succeed in a global business world. Today, almost 900 Daniels IMBA and MIM alumni are living and working around the world.

IMBA Board of Advisors Ms. Myrna Ann Adkins, Dr. Douglas Allen, Mr. Roy Becker, Mr. Paul Bergman, Mr. Ian Bird, Mr. Matjaz Bren, Ms. Leslie Carter, Ms. Sally Covington, Dr. David Hopkins, Dr. Lloyd Lewan, Mr. Trip Mackintosh, Mr. Tim McCune, Dr. Ved Nanda, Mr. Jim Reis and Mr. Tom Ritter

Announcements The International MBA (IMBA) program and the Daniels community are excited to welcome the new incoming Fall 2013 graduate students as they begin their educational journey!

Seth Barnes Elliott Brown Timothy Bush Jeremy Day Katherine Fitzgerald Robert Guest Christoper Goudy

Syndi Leav Louis Marchand Jared Marling Lauren Nichols Timothy Otto Qiyue Peng Pedro Perera

Congratulations to the August 2013 IMBA graduates!

Dustin Hinkle Ryan Hulme

Robert “Bo” Touchon Margrete Waade

Craig Forster

Letter to Alumni Colorado continues to dig out from the aftermath of the flooding caused by record rains this past September. While thankfully the campus was not affected physically by the flooding, many in the Daniels and broader community were affected very personally. Several of our Daniels graduate business student organizations have stepped up to support the recovery efforts and one of our adjunct International Business faculty members, John O’Brien, has been named by the Mayor of Lyons, CO to lead the economic recovery of that hard hit community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by these unprecedented storms!

Meanwhile, as you will see in the following pages, much is happening at the Daniels College of Business. I am particularly happy to welcome Sharon Alvarez, our own IMBA alum and great friend, back to Daniels where she has just been appointed the Koch Chair of Entrepreneurship.

She will be a great asset to the College as we continue to build our capacity in both areas.

Also, after an extensive background research effort discussed in our previous Communiqué, we have developed and evaluated several prototypes for the redesign of the IMBA program. This year, a new design will be finalized and announced. Stay tuned for further info in the next issue of the Communiqué!

Image credits: Doug Allen Contributing Writers: Chelsea Lehman Jared Marling The opinions expressed in Communiqué are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent official positions of the Daniels College of Business or the University of Denver.

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Rixin Zhang

And Congratulations to those who will graduate in November 2013!

With best wishes and greetings to you all,

Special Thanks

Keith Plum Cody Roth Kerry Slason Wenzhuo Wang Nathan Wise Zhicheng Xiao Dino Zepcan

Douglas Allen Director, International MBA Program Daniels College of Business

The Faces of the IMBA Program

Meet Our Current IMBAs The IMBA program at Daniels includes individuals who have diverse areas of interest and come from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds. While their ages and pursuits vary, the one thing that remains constant is their mutual understanding of the importance of learning how to conduct business on an international level. Take a moment to read about a few of our current students and the things that make the Daniels community stand out.

WALTER COTTINGHAM Walter is a second year IMBA candidate, with a concentration in entrepreneurship.

Prior to attending Daniels, he spent three years working for Fidelity Investments, in their strategic consulting arm, assisting in a wide range of financial services projects. Last year during the interterm, he explored his interest in India while working for Jaguar Land Rover with two other Business School classmates on a complex project. He believes that learning how to apply classroom instruction in real world international settings is an advantage he gained at Daniels. He is looking forward to continuing this trend during his GO trip to Israel.

JARED MARLING Jared is a first year IMBA student who plans to concentrate his studies in International Development. While completing his undergraduate degree, Jared participated in internships in Egypt, Tunisia, and Afghanistan.

He will also take part in an internship during winter break in Bahrain and Dubai. These types of experiences have instilled him with a strong desire to work internationally. After five years of working in insurance and retail management, he decided to change careers to pursue that goal. He chose the IMBA program at Daniels to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to create a lasting and significant impact on real world problems.

ADAM KIBBLE Adam Kibble is a second year IMBA and President of the Daniels Consulting Firm. Before coming to Daniels, Adam worked as a Practice Manager at Stride & Associates in New York City. Previously, he served as Policy Analyst in the Colorado House Minority Leader’s office. Adam earned his BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and as an undergraduate studied EU Comparative Politics at the University of Edinburgh, serving as news editor of the Student Newspaper and as legislative aid to a Labour MSP at the new Scottish Parliament. This December, Adam will work with Vail Resorts in Brazil to help bring affluent Brazilian tourists to Colorado.

JING (CATHEE) GAO Jing is a first year IMBA student whose concentration is in Innovation & Entrepreneurship. She received a B.A. in International Economics & Trade in China and after graduation she worked for an international trade company. She chose the Daniels IMBA program because she thinks it will help her explore the realities of International Business firsthand. She also believes it will help her learn how to lead a global workforce. Jing will participate in GO IMBA Brazil and believes it will improve her international businesses skills. Jing plans to apply the knowledge and skills she has honed here at Daniels to finding a job in Asia upon graduation.

AMANDA FORD Prior to joining the Daniels IMBA program, Amanda led the International Sales and Marketing division for Optimize Technologies— a biotech firm located in Portland, Oregon.

With a love for working globally, she developed teams and businesses throughout Africa while working with the United States Agency for International Development.

Amanda spent her undergraduate years at Sierra Nevada College studying Entrepreneurship, International Business and Photography— degrees which cultivated a fascination for innovation and complex problem-solving approaches. Through various leadership roles, Amanda has succeeded in uniting people with divergent views and developing consensus amongst different parties. Post graduation, Amanda plans to continue working and traveling globally for U.S.based organizations.

KATHERINE FITZGERALD A Colorado native, Katherine is a first year IMBA student. She received her BA in Music and Spanish from St. Olaf College, and later went on to obtain her international certification from Bridge TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) in Santiago, Chile. Teaching English to corporate professionals in Chile inspired Katherine to pursue a career in international business, and she chose Daniels for its emphasis on business ethics, foreign language, and experiential learning. This year Katherine will participate in the student group Net Impact, where she hopes to become part of the leadership team as a first-year coordinator while exploring her passion for sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

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Global Theory in Practice

Global Theor y in Practice: Student Consulting This past summer Daniels students made the annual trek to China with the Global Theory in Practice class. This small but impressive group of students was able to take in the sights in Chengde, Beijing, and Shanghai, and to meet with alumni based in China. They were also able to experience many diverse sight visits ranging from airplane giant, Boeing, to state-owned Bao Steel. The students participated in the continuing legacy of completing live consulting projects with Opera Software and Crowe Horwath International.

Year after year these projects continue to be mutually beneficial for the students and for the sponsor organizations. Besides providing developmental opportunities and consulting experience for Daniels students, the Global Theory in Practice courses and the projects therein can also help to build sustainable relationships and add value for sponsor organizations. We want to thank these companies for their continued participation in these live consulting projects!

The consulting projects provide organizations with business solutions, as well as opportunities to help develop and mentor MBA students.

The organizations can even identify potential interns and employees through the projects. Daniels has a long-standing partnership with both Opera Software and Crowe Horwath International. In fact, both companies are participating in our GO IMBA trip to Brazil at the end of the fall quarter.

A Legacy of Value Cary Wicker, a 2013 IMBA graduate, received a one year internship with Vail Resorts after working on a consulting project with Vail on a GO IMBA trip to Brazil. In regards to the project Cary said: “I

believe projects like this are great as they provide insight to how companies see projects, partnerships, business, etc.”

Although he ended up working in a different business unit at Vail, he also said: “I was able to speak to the project as well as skier

market info as I went through the interview process.”

According to Sean D’Arcy at Opera Software: “I have reviewed

the materials that the students prepared, and I can assure you that some of it will go directly into our marketing plans. In fact the work the WOM (Word of Mouth) group did might just change the way we approach partner marketing in Africa—it’s that significant.”

Without the participation of the sponsoring companies, Daniels students would not be able to get the value and rich texture that an in-country experience with an internationally based company provides. If you or your organization is interested in working with our students regarding an internationally based consulting project, please contact Tom Dowd at thomas.dowd@du.edu.

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GO IMBA China | Dr. Sharon Alvarez

Student Pedro Perera, who attended the GO IMBA China trip, reiterates the importance of the experience: “Working

as a student consultant for Opera Software allowed me to hone my project management skills, connect with trend-setting companies, and confirm my determination to pursue a career in management consulting. In fact, I have recently signed up for a project with the Daniels Consulting Firm (DCF), where I hope to apply some of the same skills I used during the Opera project.”

Daniels Welcomes Alumna and Professor Sharon Alvarez Dr. Sharon Alvarez joined Daniels in Summer 2013 as the Koch Chair of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Management. She came here from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University, where she was an associate professor of management and entrepreneurship and academic director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. In addition, she serves as associate editor of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and chair of the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Dr. Alvarez won the Journal of Management Best Paper Award for her article, “How Do Entrepreneurs Organize Firms Under Conditions of Uncertainty?,”

and authored one of the top cited papers in entrepreneurship, “Discovery and Creation: Alternative Theories of Entrepreneurial Action.” Dr. Alvarez’s work emphasizes entrepreneurial action under conditions of uncertainty that leads to the creation of future products and services. In addition, Dr. Alvarez will be teaching a course on microenterprises in emerging economies that will travel to Peru this spring.

Dr. Sharon Alvarez graduated from Daniels in 1995 with a Masters in International Management (MIM) which was the precursor to today’s IMBA.

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IMBA Network

Maximizing the Daniels Network There is no denying the long-term value of an MBA degree.

However, the power and connections conferred by a business school’s alumni network are equally as meaningful as a student’s educational outcomes. Through this collection of diverse and experienced classmates, colleagues, professors and alumni, students can take advantage of immense benefits, ranging anywhere from advice on the best classes to assistance in the post-graduation job search.

Warren Booth, a current 2nd year IMBA student, is an exemplary model of how students can utilize the Daniels network. Warren found a posting on Daniels Careers Online to work at an entrepreneurial clothing start-up called FLOAT, posted by alumnus James Weingarten. After an interview that was as beneficial for James as it was for Warren, both decided it would be a good fit.

In commenting on his experience, Warren said: “The experience

was very valuable for me. I had the chance to expand upon many business skills in this process. I was also given the opportunity to run the company as James went on his honeymoon. Without the shared Daniels experience, I am not sure all of these experiences could happen.”

WARREN BOOTH AND JAMES WEINGARTEN

OUR PRESENCE AROUND THE GLOBE

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James Weingarten also found working with a Daniels student to be a valuable experience. He said: “Tapping into the Daniels

network of talent has been great for FLOAT and up-andcoming students alike. The students we’ve hired, like Warren Booth, are creative thinkers with big ideas, big dreams and an entrepreneurial spirit. FLOAT is able to give these ambitious students an outlet for those ideas and dreams and the opportunity to put what they’re studying in school into practice in a real working environment, creating a winning situation for everyone.”

As another example, Christy Hotard-Rosenfeld had a summer internship with DaVita, which she secured through a Daniels career fair, and ultimately turned it into a job upon graduation.

Christy says: “I looked at my internship with DaVita as a

10 week long interview. The company was assessing me, determining if I was the right kind of person they wanted and at the same time I spent time with people to find out if the unique culture was a good fit for me. DaVita had a great program set up and gave me feedback at regular intervals.

This may not be the way every company does it, but it’s ultimately up to the candidate to ask for feedback and take on that responsibility, especially if they really want to be a part of that company.”

Based on the countless rewarding experiences of both current students and alumni, we highly recommend that all members of the Daniels community stay involved in this network long after graduation. You never know when you may need to call upon a friend for a job or a current student to become your next employee! To find out how to become more involved in the IMBA alumni network, contact Leslie Carter at lcarter@du.edu.

Alumni Notes

MERICI VINTON, IMBA 2007 After graduation, Merici joined the New Media team of the Obama campaign, where she led the North Carolina online program. After moving to Washington D.C., she worked in digital/ data transparency until she was asked to launch the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Merici began as assistant to the CIO, and now Senator Elizabeth Warren, with the goal of developing the agency’s open source technology strategy. She built the technology and web team and launched consumerfinance.gov. Merici now lives in London with her husband and works as a strategist at a service and product design company called Made by Many. Her current focus is on designing an elections site for a major news organization in preparation for the Scottish referendum and 2015 UK general elections.

CRISTINA AMIGONI, IMBA 2005 Cristina’s life has changed significantly since she completed her IMBA. She married her husband, Jeff, and they now have a son, William, who is 2½ years old. They recently returned to Colorado after 13 months in Italy, Cristina’s native country. They enjoyed the wonderful food, wine, and travels, and the whole family lived a very different life than the one they left in Colorado. Cristina returned to her roots as an ESL teacher; Jeff pursued his life-long dream of becoming an author and wrote his first two novels, and William spent the year with Cristina’s family and began speaking both Italian and English.

DYLAN STEELE, IMBA 2011 Dylan relocated to San Francisco as a partner marketing manager for Visa Inc. after graduating from Daniels. Last year he moved to Salesforce. com, which he describes as “the world’s most innovative company.” At Salesforce, Dylan works with enterprises and employees across the globe to increase understanding of the power of the Salesforce Platform.

Also, he recently returned from six months in London where he oversaw Salesforce’s UK product marketing. He served as part of a multinational team that was split between London and Dublin. He credits his IMBA with giving him the preparation and competitive edge that allowed him to be selected for this international role.

BRADLEY MCNEW, IMBA 2012 Bradley completed the IMBA program with a focus in Mandarin Chinese. Halfway through the program, he was hired as an Anti-money Laundering Analyst with Western Union, whose headquarters are in Denver. He specialized in Chinese and Asian operations. After 18 months with Western Union, Bradley decided to explore different opportunities.

He is currently performing in Singapore in a stunt acrobatic role for a Universal Studios musical. Bradley is using his IMBA degree and business experience to help him advance in the world of executive entertainment directorship.

JAKE SMITH, IMBA 2001 Jake spent nearly 10 years working for Healing Waters International, a Denver-based NGO focused on the development and implementation of clean water solutions in Central and South America and Africa. He witnessed the realities of poverty firsthand, but also saw the power of social entrepreneurship and the positive impact it can have. Jake recently accepted a position with Weave Social Finance, a company that provides consulting and investment banking services to social enterprises and businesses based in low-income communities here in the United States. Jake will miss the travel, but he is looking forward to helping social enterprises grow and positively impact their communities.

CALLING FOR ALUMNI NOTES New career, new promotion, recently married? We want to know. Please contact Leslie Carter at lcarter@du.edu to submit an update along with a photo.

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Show Us Your Daniels Pride From Around the World!

Daniels International MBA

Do you have any great photos from your international experiences? We want to see them!

We are having a competition to feature photos of alumni from locations all across the world.

Submit the best photos of you and your family, friends or other Daniels Pioneers (preferably wearing Daniels gear) from all corners of the globe and you could see one of your photos featured in the next newsletter! Remember this is a competition, so show us your best pioneer pose! Send your submission today to Leslie Carter at lcarter@du.edu.

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