Managing the Seas of Change - The Paul Merage School of Business

Transcription

Managing the Seas of Change - The Paul Merage School of Business
Merage
S T R AT E G I C I N N O VAT I O N AT W O R K
The Center for Real Estate
2009/2010
Published by UC Irvine
The Paul Merage School of Business
ISSUE NO 3
at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business
2009-2010 Calendar of Events
Please check our website at merage.uci.edu/go/CRE for more information, updates and new events.
OCTOBER 6, 2009
MREA MEETING I :
“Mortgage 101 - Current
Trends & Factors Affecting
Today’s Residential Mortgage
Markets”
UC Irvine Campus, SB116
OCTOBER 7, 2009
BREAKFAST SERIES 1:
“Decoding CMBS:
Who? What? Where?
When? Why? How? A Primer for Borrowers
and Buyers”
Pacific Club, Newport Beach
OCTOBER 9, 2009
MREA SITE VISIT I:
Buchanan Street Partners
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
OCTOBER 14, 2009
UC IRVINE REAL ESTATE
ALUMNI GOLF EVENT
Tijeras Creek Golf Club,
Rancho Santa Margarita
OCTOBER 15, 2009
MENTORSHIP
APPRECIATION
EVENT
University Club, UC Irvine
OCTOBER 30, 2009
REAL ESTATE DAY IN THE
LIFE
NOVEMBER 2009
UC IRVINE REAL ESTATE
ALUMNI EVENT:
Fall Boss Talk
JANUARY 20, 2010
BREAKFAST SERIES 2
Pacific Club, Newport Beach
FEBRUARY 2010
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
SYMPOSIUM
Laguna Beach, CA
FEBRUARY 2010
UC IRVINE REAL ESTATE
ALUMNI EVENT:
Winter Boss Talk
MARCH 2010
SPRING BOARD MEETING &
SYMPOSIUM
APRIL 2010
UC IRVINE REAL ESTATE
ALUMNI EVENT:
Spring Boss Talk
M AY 5 , 2 0 1 0
BREAKFAST SERIES 3
Pacific Club, Newport Beach
Managing the
Seas of Change
The Road
to Recovery
Begins Here
Diagnosing
Health Care Reform
Innovation Conquers
the Business Cycle
MPAA Suite 210
Irvine, California 92697-3130
merage.uci.edu
Strategic Issues in Management Series
Forward-thinking seminars geared toward managers and administrators who
want to sharpen management skills and enhance their careers.
Merage
2009-10
2009
October 1, 2009
GLOBAL INNOVATION
Professor John Graham
3 Dean’s Letter: Up for the
Challenge
October 15, 2009
FROM CONFLICT TO
COLLABORATION
I N N OVAT I O N
Dr. David Hartl
4 The Road to Recovery
Begins Here
October 29, 2009
“DOING LEADERSHIP” IN A
WORLD OF COMPLEXITY
6 World Wars: Battling
Assumptions
8 MBA Consulting Program:
An Endless Summer of
Innovative Ideas
Professor David Blake
November 12, 2009
MERGERS &
ACQUISITIONS:
STRATEGIC DECISIONS
9 Distinguished Speaker Series
Boasts Impressive Lineup
Professor Kristin Behfar
The Strategic Issues in Management Series provides today’s senior
managers with an opportunity to both update and broaden their business
skill set and knowledge. World-class faculty from UC Irvine’s Paul Merage
School of Business conduct highly interactive seminars designed to
address today’s most pressing management needs.
March 18, 2010
FINANCE FOR
NON-FINANCIAL
MANAGERS
Each of the half-day seminars (held 2:30 – 6:30pm) is held on campus in
executive classrooms using the latest teaching technology. A certificate
of completion is given to participants who attend any four (4) sessions.*
February 25, 2010
BUILDING EFFECTIVE
TEAMS
Professor Todd Richey
■
Professor Vijay Gurbaxani
Gain tools and techniques today – apply them tomorrow!
■ Network with peers in a dynamic classroom setting.
■ Learn new approaches and perspectives from our world-class
faculty and each other.
■ *Earn a certificate of completion – a great resumé builder.
April 15, 2010
RESOLVING
ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
WITH NEGOTIATION
Register now for one or more seminar dates.
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/SIMS for Merage School Alumni and Friends
discount information.
April 8, 2010
DRIVING
TRANSFORMATION
WITH INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Professor Lisa Barron
Cover design by:
Michael Ward
23 MBA for the Greater Good
STUDENTS
24 Competition Heats Up for
CRE-NAIOP Fellowship
25 Merage School Clubs
Energize Students
M BA P RO GR AM S
26 Is It Time to Go Back To
School? Physicians Look
Beyond Their MDs
40 Marriott’s Ed Fuller First to
Commit to New Building
Campaign
40 Deloitte Strengthens Alliance
With Merage School
41 Center News
44 Prosperitas Group
Quadruples Membership
45 CRE Fast Becoming Beacon
for Real Estate Industry
28 MBA Program News
46 Dean’s Advisory Board and
Donor Lists
14
38
B E YO N D T H E C L AS S RO O M
FAC U LT Y I N S I GH T S
10 MBAs Find Success in a
Tough Market
30 Faculty Research
48 Dean’s Leadership Circle –
Your Network for Success
Professor Philip Bromiley
2010
22 The Treasure Box
6
12 Leadership and Team
Development Services
13 Keeping Sight of the Horizon:
Sustainability is Key
14 Diagnosing Health Care
Reform: Study and Debate
18 How Big is Your Global
Footprint?
20 The Business of Businesses:
Entrepreneurs Stay Involved
35 Faculty Books
36 Faculty in the News
C O L L AB O R AT I O N
38 A Practical Plan for Being
Charitable
40 Executive Classrooms
Named in Honor of Experian
40 PAAMCO Provides Cause for
Celebration
ALU M N I N E W S
52 Merage School Annual Fund
Donor Honor Roll
53 Annual Fund 2008-2009
Co-Chair Spotlight
54 Merageville Reunion 2009
55 Class Notes
60 Renovation Update
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/ExecEd to learn more about
other Executive Education offerings including Custom
Programs and Leadership & Team Development Services.
1
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
DEAN’S MESSAGE
Merage
E D I TO R I AL D I R E C TO R S
Donna Mumford, Diane Sagey
E D I TO R
Orange County’s World-Class MBA
Anne Warde
ART D I R E C TO R
Maureen Bresse
C O N T R I BU T I N G D E S I GN E R S
Maureen Bresse, Matt Erickson, Raymond Pirouz and
Michael Ward
WRITERS
Aurora Abt, Connie Clark, Donna Mumford,
Robert Preer and Anne Warde
P H OTO GR AP H E R S
Carmella Rodriguez Hardy, Leb Orloff, Carlos Puma,
Jorge Salas and Steve Shea
PRINTING
Lester Lithograph, Inc.
P U B L I S H YO U R N E W S : If you are a graduate and
would like to publish your news or information go to
merage.uci.edu/go/alumni and go to Profiles, then Post
Class Notes.
World-Wide Advisory Board of Leading Executives
CEOs from more than 50 of southern California’s foremost
companies, including:
Allergan
Mazda
Abbott Medical Optics
Mattel
Boeing
Rockwell Collins
Experian
Toshiba
Ingram Micro
UPS
Marriott International
Lodging
Wells Fargo
T E L L U S W H AT YO U T H I N K: Let us know what you
think of Merage Magazine or if you have any interesting story ideas or photos to publish. Contact Anne
Warde at awarde@uci.edu or 949.824.7922 with any
thoughts, comments or ideas you may have.
TO S U B S C R I B E to this free publication visit
merage.uci.edu/go/subscribe
Merage Magazine is published by:
The Paul Merage School of Business, UC Irvine
Marketing & Communications, MPAA Suite 210
Irvine, CA 92697-3130
Dynamic MBA programs based on:
Teaching sustained growth through strategic innovation
In-class and on-site experiences with real-world business
issues
Six “Centers of Excellence” with first-class connections to the
business community:
The Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The Center for Investment and Wealth Management
The Center for Real Estate
The Center for Leadership and Team Development
The Center for Health Care Management and Policy
The Center for Research on Information Technology and
Organizations (CRITO)
m era g e. u c i. ed u
Up For The Challenge
appears to be on the verge of a recovery, although questions
remain about how vigorous the recovery will be and whether it can be sustained. A
question often asked of me is how we adjust our curriculum to respond to the challenges companies face during a downturn.
The answer is quite simple. We don’t. Not because we don’t believe that companies
need to react strategically during a recession, but rather because a well devised
strategy is one that presumes a cycle will occur and has already taken into account
necessary reactions and strategies during every part of the cycle.
The Merage School MBA focuses on strategies that provide sustainable growth
throughout the economic
cycle. Key factors underlying
At press time, 92% of the Merage
these strategies are based on
innovation, analytics, informaSchool’s Full-Time MBA class had
tion technology and
collaborative execution. By
accepted full-time positions.
combining these four components that maintain growth, companies can build a sustainable competitive edge.
Those companies that identify opportunities at each point in the cycle and then act
on them will not only survive but thrive, even in a downturn.
How well is the Merage School program recognized for providing those capabilities
to our students? An important measure of our quality is our placement success relative to that of other top programs. We recently received data from ten of the top 20
MBA programs in the country indicating that at these schools, placement of full-time
MBA graduates ranged from 67 to 80% as of early August. In contrast, at press time,
92% of the Merage School’s Full-Time MBA class had accepted full-time positions.
We are gratified that the business community is recognizing that our graduates bring
the skills necessary to help their businesses sustain profitable, long-term growth.
Our functional strengths in operations, information technology, corporate finance
and marketing – combined with the four pillars underlying sustainable growth mentioned
above – have provided successful career paths for our graduates. Over the long term,
these skills have helped ensure success for our alumni. According to BusinessWeek,
Merage School graduates rank among the top 25 globally in terms of
financial remuneration 10 years after graduation.
Our focus on innovation within a highly personalized program
has resulted in substantial benefits for our students and for the
School as a whole. Today, we are attracting some of the top talent in the world, individuals who recognize the distinct value of
the Merage School program captured in our theme:
T H E GLO BAL E C O N O M Y
“
”
Innovation to shape the world,
Personalization to shape you.
meragefirst.com
We continue on our remarkable journey toward the
distinction among the best research-based
business schools in the world.
Thank you for joining us.
Dean Selected
Vice Chair/Chair
Elect for AACSB
Board
dean of
The Paul Merage School of
Business at UC Irvine, was selected
to serve as vice chair/chair elect for
the Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business
(AACSB) Board of Directors in
2009.
“Andy is to be congratulated on
his selection as chairman of our
board. This is an exciting time for
AACSB, and his enthusiasm for our
many compelling initiatives is a welcomed addition to our leadership,”
said John J. Fernandes, president
and chief executive officer of
AACSB International.
Policano is responsible for evaluating and setting policies to guide
the accreditation group, which is the
premier global organization overseeing business and management
programs worldwide.
“The work of
AACSB in representing and furthering
the interests and goals
of business schools globally is immensely important,”
Policano said, “and I am honored to
serve this influential organization.”
Policano assumes his chairmanship
responsibilities in 2010.
“Andy’s impressive contributions
to management education, and
ongoing commitment to AACSB
makes him an excellent choice,”
said Fernandes. “His drive and
dedication are of tremendous value
to both AACSB and our membership as we continue to advance
management education worldwide.”
A N D R EW J . P O L I C A N O ,
Andy Policano
3
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
INNOVATION
INNOVATION
The Road to Recovery Begins Here
W
hile some employers
search for the right person
for the job, the savvy ones
search for the right person for the
organization, knowing how the value
of a good leader is never limited to
one position. The Merage School
curriculum is designed to graduate
exceptional leaders equipped to
manage in any cycle, and the statistics bear that out: the Merage
School MBA graduate employment
rate is outstanding (see page 3)
and the School is among
BusinessWeek’s 2009 Top 25 MBA
Salary rankings for MBA pay after
10 years. Of course, it’s not only
savvy employers who know the
score; it’s the savvy graduates who
can magnify the value of their MBA
education:
Jennifer Wong ‘08
Rapid Prototyping Lead
Phantom Works Unit
The Boeing Company
When her unit adjusted its
employment numbers recently,
Jennifer Wong did what almost anyone else in that situation does. She
worked as efficiently and productively as possible with the resources
she had. But sometimes it’s not
enough, and Wong credits her
Merage School MBA with helping
her stand out. “I am considered a
multi-skilled employee who can
move in various directions within
the company and am not constrained to one job code.”
As a lead software engineer at
Boeing, Wong says she also has a
clearer view of the tough choices
companies can be forced to make
nowadays.
“The Merage School gave me a
broader perspective and I have a
greater understanding for why some
decisions, even though they may be
difficult for an organization or team,
are required to benefit the company
and keep the business going.”
Those decisions can encompass
career paths as well. “When I
entered the program I thought I had
a vision for my career. I discovered
that my vision was much more limiting than my potential. Because of
my success in the MBA program, I
have placed higher professional
stretch goals, and I’ve laid out a
timeline. The Merage School has
given me the knowledge, skills and
support necessary for me to
achieve my goals.” Wong believes
one of the School’s strengths is its
focus on entrepreneurs. “During
economic downturns we usually
come out of it with some amazingly
successful entrepreneurs. This program can give you the knowledge
and tools needed to make it happen.”
Wong acknowledges that the
current downturn has left talented
people without jobs, and has shuttered businesses, but she remains
positive and pragmatic.
“There are success stories all over
the place, you just have to go out
and make them happen for yourself.
You do this with hard work, dedication and focus. In addition you want
to continue maintaining those
healthy professional relationships
because you never know when you
will need a helping hand from one
of your networks.”
Todd Zive ‘07
Marketing Manager
Masimo Corporation
Todd Zive says he knew the
Merage School was right for him
after he attended an information
night at another graduate business
school. “I was struck by the fact
that I had to complete an information card with carbon copies. You
returned the yellow and blue copies
and you kept the pink one,” he
says. “At the Merage School, I met
people. We shook hands.”
Zive notes it’s a relatively minor
incident, but a telling example of
the difficulties some schools have in
adapting to change.
“In our strategic marketing group,
we have to think about different
approaches to the market,” he says.
“We need creative ways to introduce
technologies, and we often have to
change our thinking to adapt to an
environment.” It was important, he
says, to learn from a school that
practiced what it preached.
That kind of adaptability
appealed to Zive, who is responsible
for strategic planning and marketing at Masimo, a medical device
manufacturer. “My company is very
entrepreneurial, very adaptable to
change. We thrive on it.”
Knowing how and when to push
for change was also part of the
learning process. “Sometimes I may
bring up an idea even though we
won’t be ready for three or four
months. I know when it’s right to
push, and how hard.” Zive credits
Merage School professors like
Imran Currim for challenging his
way of doing things.
“He’d say, ‘You have five or ten
minutes in a presentation to say
what you need to say.’”
But Zive says he gained more
than effective presentation skills,
and he uses what he’s learned now
more than ever.
“Business is easy to manage
when times are good. But how do
you maintain and grow for the
future? How do we prioritize, especially in the current market, with
limited resources? The Merage
School helps you develop thinking
skills for this. We learned from executives who have been through
difficult times and who didn’t just
study them.” Zive points out faculty
such as Richard Chandler, founder
of Sunrise Medical, and guest lecturers including Steve Carley, CEO
of El Pollo Loco.
But the Merage School experience doesn’t end at graduation,
Zive says. “They want students to
be successful. My career and what’s
best for it are my lifelong commit-
ments and the Merage School is
always right there, supporting me
and the community.”
Frank Ury, ‘92
Mayor, City of Mission Viejo
Vice President, Insurance Company
of the West
Not many ten-year-olds ponder an
MBA, but for the mayor of Mission
Viejo, California, the drive to succeed in business formed at an early
age.
“My father got his MBA when I
was 10, and I saw how it helped his
career. I always knew I would get
one, because my vision was always
to progress in engineering and
management.”
Unlike his business determination, Ury’s civic interests came
along later. “Being interested and
active in politics was not something
I planned on, but I certainly enjoy
it. Having the Merage School MBA
gave me the flexibility to go beyond
what I was planning professionally
into an area I did not know I would
enjoy so much.”
The ability to apply MBA skills
across a broad spectrum was
important to Ury, who balances a
business career with running a
thriving city government in south
Orange County.
“The MBA was vital for me to
By Connie Clark
understand finance in general, and
then to make the transition to
understanding the differences
between corporate finance and government finance. Without a doubt I
had the best finance and economics
teachers in the world at the Merage
School. The Organization Development course really helped me in
evaluating and learning how to find
and hire the best talent we can find
for running our $50 million city.”
But Ury says there are other benefits, especially as government
plays an even more crucial role in
business than ever.
“The biggest help for me was my
concentration in finance and the
strong direction of long term planning that it gave me. Currently,
cities that adhere to long range
planning are not panicking. They
are cutting back a bit, but still providing services to their residents. In
fact, the municipalities that did do
a good job of planning – the ones
who saved for projects and watched
their cash flow – are now going to
bid on many planned projects, as
bids are coming in well below
planned expense levels.”
One of the keys to success in a
tough market like this, according to
Ury, is the ability to trust your own
insight. “Far too many times people
abdicate their own understanding of
issues to ‘the experts.’ More and
more I find that each individual is
really the expert. Rely on that, plan
on that,” he advises. “Whether making a decision in politics or
business, you have much to offer
and many ideas of merit, so take
the lead.”
4
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
5
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
INNOVATION
INNOVATION
WORLD
WARS
all communication is done online, these aren’t virtual students, but real people from nine international
universities.
Gibson points out that it’s critical to connect students
with international colleagues and to give them the skills
to work in electronic contexts.
The class, unique to the Merage School and its
international collaborators, is just one example
of the school’s global commitment; other programs
provide students with a global learning environment they
won’t find anywhere else.
The Merage School leads the battle
against assumptions about global
business, and brings about peaceful –
and profitable – collaboration.
By Connie Clark
P RO F E S S O R C R I S T I NA GI B S O N is an unlikely fighter. But
the Dean’s Professor of Organization and Management
spends much of her research and teaching days battling
generalized assumptions about doing business internationally, and she’s helping students tackle them, too.
In classes that deploy student teams from around the
world, Gibson’s students learn to challenge traditional
ideas about global teams, and how to work effectively in
the increasingly static global marketplace.
“The many assumptions we have developed in the U.S.
about what it means to be an effective team member are
actually not the same assumptions held in other cultures,” she says.
For starters, her research shows that the scope of
working teams has several key differentiators among
countries. “In the United States, we tend to assume that
membership on a work team has implications for our
lives at work, but that relationships with fellow team
members are less important (or not at all pertinent) for
life outside of work,” she notes. “So the scope of the
team is limited to work. Yet, in many cultures, it is
assumed that the role of a work team member extends
far beyond the narrow confines of our work life, and that
fellow team members will be involved in one another’s
family and social life. The scope is much broader. If a
U.S. team leader doesn’t understand this, and attempts
to implement teams that are multi-cultural or based in
non-U.S. contexts, he or she may overlook an important
need and expectation that non-U.S. team members have,
thus appearing less effective to those non-U.S. members.”
Real Global Power
Gibson and other Merage School professors agree that
the only way students can learn about these important
cultural differences is by immersion. When it comes to
international business, they say it’s one thing to listen to
lectures about multicultural management or take part in
case studies of global firms, but as the new world marketplace takes shape, real exploration and actual work
beyond international borders is as critical and foundational for business students as taking Finance 101.
In Gibson’s Global Team Collaboration class for
instance, students collaborate electronically on multinational teams to produce a real training module. Although
6
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
Fact-Finding Missions Go Abroad
The International Residential Program sends student
and faculty teams to key locations around the globe for
business discovery missions unlike any other. “It’s a very
sharp learning exposure,” says Professor of Strategic
Management David Blake. “Students learn very quickly
the challenges and opportunities of doing business in
any other country.”
Professor of Marketing and International Business
John Graham cites the big picture view. “If you’re going
to master any topic, you must be an expert in the details,
but you must also comprehend the big picture. The
International Residential delivers that to our students.”
But both caution against making snap judgments or
assumptions. “You’re not going to learn everything about
how to do business in the Czech Republic after you’ve visited the businesses there,” says Blake, who along with
Graham accompanies the teams. “But you will learn to
open your mind to cultural differences. To challenge what
you think you know.”
The inputs:
World class leadership.
World class business alliances.
World class faculty.
The outcome:
World class events.
Blake refers to the International Residential as a “living
case study,” and says students grasp general lessons of
global business in the concrete context of a specific
country. “Students can understand the kinds of host
country factors and relationships that must be taken into
account no matter where international business is conducted.”
During their seven-day trip, students typically meet
with senior-level executives from U.S. and foreign-based
companies and discuss their major issues – the investment climate, banking and finance, supply chain
management, and economic transition in emerging
economies. It’s a trip that’s also packed with tours of
offices, factories, and other business centers.
Recent tours have taken students to Russia, the Czech
Republic, Belgium, Germany, Beijing, Hong Kong, and
Guangzhou.
For an even broader experience, Full-Time MBAs can
participate in the Merage School’s International Exchange
Program at partnering schools in Asia, Europe, and Latin
America. Schools include Bocconi University, Milan, Italy;
Chinese University of Hong Kong; Vienna University of
Economics and Business Administration; and Yonsei
University, Seoul, Korea.
Beyond fighting cultural stereotypes and ending the
barriers that divide students geographically, Professor
Gibson says there is an added benefit to all of these
global experiences. “Students gain insight into cultures
and business practices outside the U.S., but they also
gain insight into themselves. I am a firm believer that it is
only by experiencing other cultures that you can truly
understand your own.”
Each year, The Paul Merage School of Business and its Centers
of Excellence offer a myriad of conferences, colloquia and
events for the business community. From the long-running
Health Care Forecast Conference to the popular Distinguished
Speaker Series and the Global Business Conference, the School
brings together leading-edge academics and businesspeople
addressing critical issues of the day. You are most welcome to
join us.
You’ll learn more at Merage.
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/events
Watch for details on the 2010 Global Business Conference on Sustainability!
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/greenconference
Merage
|
7
2009 – 2010
INNOVATION
INNOVATION
MBA Consulting Program:
An Endless Summer of Innovative Ideas
Merage School expands program to include
summertime internships.
by Connie Clark
he fundamental mission of
the Merage School’s
Corporate Partners
Program (CPP) is to create
mutually beneficial partnerships
between the corporate community
and the school. One of the most
popular benefits to CPP members
is the complimentary access to the
MBA Consulting Program – a student consulting team coached by
seasoned executives who provide
the insights, ideas and solutions
that only an outside source can discover.
During the summer of 2009, the
CPP helped place Merage School
student teams at two prominent
Orange County companies. At
Experian Information Solutions, Inc.,
a student team set out to identify
and research growth opportunities
outside of the company’s core busi-
ness. For Oakley, Inc., another team
helped develop a model for evaluating certain product segments’
profitability. Executives from both
companies were pleased with the
results.
“Your work was equal to or better
than a professional consulting team
that looked at this for a much
longer time and at a higher
expense,” Oakley executives commented.
Experian executives were equally
impressed: “We definitely learned
some important things.”
Reflecting the growing demand
from companies to get involved,
those projects mark the first time
the program was extended through
the summer months.
It’s little wonder that business
leaders are eager to sponsor projects, considering the benefits.
“Companies get a team of five or
six very bright minds to tackle an
issue,” says coach-advisor John
May, a retired Wall Street executive
and former Kingston Technologies
corporate treasurer. “These young
MBAs are very creative, very broad
in their thinking. They’re not afraid
to offer ‘out of the box’ solutions.”
Under the guidance of experienced coaches like May and
Thomas Antunez, MBA ’05, CEO of
Irvine-based Percentix, Inc., students
also get an opportunity to work with
high-level executives they may never
have been exposed to before. “This
was a great window into this side of
the business,” says Justin Clare, ’10,
team lead for Oakley. Clare, a
chemist, hopes to combine his
background with his Merage School
MBA to pursue a career in corporate finance in health care. “I had
the opportunity to match talents to
projects, and work with a very
dynamic team. It was very beneficial to me.”
The team concept was crucial to
the outcome. “With a large business
scope at hand, the students quickly
learned that the success of any
consulting engagement eventually
rests on the ability to execute as a
team,” says Antunez. “In this
regard, they excelled tremendously.
The client was quite pleased with
the deliverable.”
The elective course is coordinated
by Professor Emile Pilafidis who
stresses the value to both students
and companies. “The MBA teams
and company executives create
value from project definition to project conclusion,” he says. “They
challenge each other to think creatively and produce something
useful. The students experience
‘sticky learning’ that will always
help them in their careers, and the
executives have a specific deliverable to help them advance their
business. It is a tremendous winwin outcome.”
The projects address substantive
topics culminating in a final presentation to top corporate executives.
“Some involve issues that companies may have struggled with,” says
May. “They may have tried several
solutions and they’re still not satisfied. The students come in with
completely fresh ideas for them to
pursue. This is highly value-added
for the companies that participate.”
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/cpp for
more information.
Teaming Up With the
Corporate Partners Program
More and more companies are
partnering with the Merage
School and taking advantage of
the MBA Consulting Program.
Some Corporate Partners who
have sponsored student teams
include:
Abbott Medical Optics
Beckman Coulter
Emulex
HireRight
Kingston Technology
Mazda North America
Operations
Taco Bell
The Gallup Organization
Toshiba America Electronic
Components
Toyota Material Handling
Neel Grover
President & CEO
Buy.com
Sue Swenson
President & CEO
Sage Software
November 5, 2009
January 21, 2010
Mike Mussallem
John Krafcik
Chairman & CEO
President & CEO
Edwards Lifesciences Hyundai Motor America
March 4, 2010
May 6, 2010
Distinguished
Speaker Series
by Anne Warde
Boasts Impressive Lineup
Buy.com CEO Neel Grover Kicks Off this Series on November 5
T H E F O U RT H AN N UAL Paul Merage School of Business Distinguished Speaker
Series (DSS) is well underway with some impressive business leaders on the
schedule. Held at the UC Irvine Student Center, the 2009-2010 schedule includes:
November 5, 2009
Neel Grover, President and Chief Executive Officer, Buy.com
January 21, 2010
Sue Swenson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sage Software
March 4, 2010
Mike Mussallem, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Edwards Lifesciences
May 6, 2010
John Krafcik, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Hyundai Motor America
“The Distinguished Speaker Series continues to draw some of the most innovative leaders of our time,” said Shaheen Husain, executive director of
Corporate Relations for the Merage School. “Our audiences gain tremendous
value from these business leaders and their input is helping to shape the
future of businesses far beyond their own.”
The series brings together prominent business executives with MBA students
and future leaders to address current business issues, leadership, ethics, and
other relevant topics. The series is organized by the Merage School’s Center for
Leadership and Team Development and supported by corporate sponsors. For
the 2009-2010 series, Bingham McCutchen, PricewaterhouseCoopers, The
Capital Group Companies, and Wells Fargo all support the series.
For more details, visit merage.uci.edu/go/DSS.
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e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
9
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
MBAs Find
Success in a
Tough Market:
by Anne Warde
Preparation is Key
AS T H E E C O N O M Y F LU C T UAT E S and businesses adapt
to the new environment, the search for employment has
become increasingly competitive. Only those who are the
most prepared and who have positioned themselves well
will succeed.
According to the latest employment results (at the time
of publication in 2009), Merage School MBAs are certainly up for the challenge. “Preliminary results showed our
employment stats are surpassing those of the top twenty
business schools in the nation,” said Tom Kozicki, executive director of the Merage School MBA Career Center.
“The fact that more than 90 percent of our Full-Time
MBA class have accepted full-time positions really illustrates how well prepared our students are to enter the
work force and take on leadership roles.”
To assist Merage School MBA alumni and executives
looking to make a change, the MBA Career Center offers
these ten ways to search during a tough economy.
1. Positive Communication: How you communicate in the marketplace will directly and
possibly adversely affect your job search
efforts. Think positively during your job
search, especially when exchanging information with others, such as cover letters and
informational interviews. It will promote further networking and additional references.
Decrease any negative communication such
as “I’ll never find a job in this economy.”
Remember that “like
attracts like.” If you are
negative about your
search it will deter you
from getting any positive information and
instead will attract
more negative feedback.
2. Patience and Organization: During a challenging economy you can lose opportunities if you
are not keeping track of your search efforts. It
is also at these times where you see a lack of
immediate gratification or immediate payoff
from your efforts. Be patient! Keep Human
Resources contacts and hiring managers
informed about your status (still show strong
interest in the company) and regularly inform
your network on your progress. Be organized!
Create a contact database, follow through with
each of your contacts (formal and informal),
keep meeting notes, and save your written
correspondence.
3. Have a Plan: Your career
marketing plan will keep
you focused and on target
during your job search. The
hidden job market accounts for up to
80% of the jobs in today’s marketplace. Your
career marketing plan will help lower stress
and increase confidence. Know your transferable skills – this is extremely important for
anyone who is planning to make a job/career
shift. Preparation, preparation, preparation is
key. More than one plan is optimum.
4. Time: Commit to the search – yes it can be
tough and somewhat discouraging but you
have to stay the course and dedicate the time
each day and week. Budget your time for what
is going to give you the biggest return. For
example: if you have 10 hours a week for job
searching, then apply 8 hours towards networking. The more contacts you obtain,
the more you have a chance to “soft sell”
yourself all the while gathering information and more contacts. You will get out of it
what you put into it. If you are unemployed,
the search is your full-time job.
vacation, etc. Employers are looking for people who can go above and beyond and can be
highly productive – do the work of more than
one person. Position yourself wisely!
8. 21st Century Resources: Integrate your everyday networking technology but be professional.
Just as you are accessing them, employers
can access you. Through your efforts you are
creating a brand for yourself, so be aware of
how you build your reputation and positioning.
a. Online communications: LinkedIn, Google
Groups, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter
b. Record your verbal presentation into a podcast or YouTube video, but be professional.
c. Create a contact database with names and
email addresses for all individuals you
come in contact with during your job search
and set ticklers to re-contact them.
5. Network: Get involved! Network through the
Merage School, your Alumni Association, the
Centers of Excellence and other Merage
School programs where groups gather.
6. Positioning Statement (“30-second commercial” or verbal presentation): Have a solid
response to “Tell me about yourself.” Practice
verbally and, if possible, record yourself.
Understand your strengths and how to communicate them both in verbal and written
form. Know your accomplishments. When
there are so many candidates to choose from,
companies want to know specifically what you
can do for them. How can you generate revenue, save money or otherwise make a
positive impact on their organization?
7. Pricing: Are you at an employable price range?
Do your research and be “within the range”
when seeking opportunities. This is more
important now in a slow and very
competitive job market. Also, avoid
discussions of work-life balance,
9. Know the Marketplace: Many companies are
currently unable to forecast their hiring needs,
so be prepared for some ambiguity.
Companies are decreasing the amount of
recruitment opportunities, nationally and
globally. They are staying closer to “home” for
recruiting efforts. Companies are looking for
exact matches because they can and are taking longer to fill positions because of budget
and staffing constraints. They want to know
you’ve done your homework.
10. Keep Your Network Alive: Once you have landed a new job, your network needs to be
nurtured and kept alive even while you are
employed. In these volatile economic times,
you never know when you will be job searching
again. A well-managed network will present
opportunities to you.
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e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
11
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Leadership and Team
Development Services
A NEW KIND OF DREAM TEAM
Reflecting the close, collaborative
relationship each Merage School
team employs with client companies, the program itself is a
collaborative effort between the
office of Executive Education and
the CLTD. The combined result is a
program that offers access to the
most recent research, and to business leaders with a wealth of
practical experience.
Keeping Sight
of the Horizon:
Sustainability is Key
By Cristina Gibson, Dean’s Professor of Organization and Management and
Co-Director of the Center for Leadership and Team Development
By Connie Clark
I
f you could assemble a team of
world-renowned experts to work
with you to provide detailed
solutions to your most pressing
business challenges, who would you
choose? What if you could select
from a roster of some of the most
prestigious professors and business
leaders with illustrious experience
and credentials? What if they provided you with an almost dizzying
array of services, from leadership
and team assessment tools to personalized executive coaching,
consulting services and even access
to business skill-sharpening programs for almost every member of
your team?
of the Leadership and Team Development Services program within the Merage School’s Center for Leadership and Team
Development is that it is research-based. Merage faculty – along with colleagues at universities and centers around the globe – provide participants
with the most recently-developed ideas, concepts and practices for which
we have real evidence from rigorous research, effectively bridging research
and practice.
We also aim to help leaders and teams incorporate knowledge of important trends, issues and resources that are external to a particular team or
firm. That is, much of the work done by other Centers helps leaders be
effective internally, but that is only part of the challenge.
Increasingly, to be optimally effective, leaders and teams need to scan
the external environment and adjust their practices based on real-time
demands or trends. We call these
“Horizon Issues” and we plan to identify
and focus on one of these each year
When you get right
with the guidance of our Advisory Board.
down to day-to-day
The Horizon Issue for 2009-10 is
Sustainability and the Environment, an
practices, what
important issue now facing business
leaders. Any team or firm not familiar
does “sustainability”
with the public demand for sustainability
will have difficulty surviving and thriving
really mean?
in the next decade. But what does that
mean for a given team or firm?
Throughout our Center’s programming this year we will be addressing
the theme – including significant contributions to the Merage School’s
annual Global Business Conference in 2010 on sustainability and environment. By facilitating intellectual exchanges regarding various views of
sustainability, reflection on its implications and guidance in action-planning for it, we seek to help leaders and teams stay ahead of the curve on
this very timely and urgent demand, and to understand the implications of
sustainable practices on their operations.
This intersection of research-based and horizon-focused programs
makes the Center truly unique. More important, our team is made up of
inspiring business leaders and faculty who have a lot of passion for the
Center and its mission. It’s very contagious!
O N E KE Y AS P E C T
A growing number of businesses
are doing just that, working with the
Merage School’s newest and most
collaborative endeavor between the
office of Executive Education and
the Center for Leadership and Team
Development (CLTD). It brings
together the best, brightest and
most experienced business and academic minds to help executives
respond to today’s pressing needs
for creative and results-driven business practices.
“When we talk to businesses, the
thing they’re looking for most is
leadership development and
resources,” says Dr. Newt
Margulies, director of Executive
Education programs and part of
the team that spearheaded the program.
Responding to that need,
Margulies, along with Merage
School Professors Jone Pearce and
Cristina Gibson, worked together to
develop Leadership and Team
Development Services, an Executive
Education program that provides
relevant, practical and complete
solutions for individual businesses.
The overall team comprises
world-class Merage School professors and Fellows of the CLTD,
representing hundreds of years of
experience in business leadership.
They bring strong backgrounds
working with, and consulting to,
organizations of all sizes and industries, including health care,
governments, non-profits, entrepreneurial initiatives and more.
For an individual company, the
Merage School team might begin
with a variety of assessment tools
to pinpoint both conflicts and
strengths. Highly competent executive coaches can then work with
individuals or teams to develop
effective leadership approaches,
action plans and ongoing support.
The program can also include public leadership training in areas such
as conflict management, effective
teams, negotiating, and effectively
using influence.
So why should executives hire a
team of consultants no matter the
economic climate? Margulies stresses that the companies who respond
to an economic crisis with leadership are the ones who manage to
succeed. “There’s an immediate
and long term payoff,” he says.
“Businesses gain the skills they
need to cope in a downturn, and
they’re prepared for a market
upturn.”
Pearce points out that because of
the highly specialized nature of the
program, business leaders gain
specialized, advanced skills. “We’re
not teaching the ABCs of management,” she says. “Our people are
executives and entrepreneurs who
are looking for the very latest in
research and techniques.”
Participants say they appreciate
the balance of academic knowledge
and practical tools they can apply
immediately, and say the program
is needed now more than ever.
For more information about the
Leadership and Team Development
Services program, visit
merge.uci.edu/go/ExecEd.
“
”
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e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
13
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Forecasts: U.S. Economy, Private Sector Health
Care and Federal Health Care Expenditures
James Baumgardner, PhD, the Deputy Assistant
Director for Health Policy at the Congressional Budget
Office (CBO), weighed in with insight from his agency’s
most recent report. The key issue of the day for
Baumgardner clearly involved how we reduce the number
of uninsured. “Is it with subsidies, mandates or facilitating
enrollment?” Baumgardner thinks it will require a combination of approaches if we’re going to find a solution.
“Policymakers face difficult trade-offs between the objectives of expanding insurance coverage and controlling
both federal and total costs for health care. Serious concerns exist about the efficiency of the health care
system, but no simple solutions are available to reduce
the level or to control the growth of health care spending.” The CBO report can be found at cbo.gov.
Prospects for Federal Health Legislation in a New
Administration
Diagnosing
Health Care
Reform
by Anne Warde
in the industry,
economics professor and Robert Gumbiner Chair in
Health Care Management Paul J. Feldstein, directs UC
Irvine’s Center for Health Care Management & Policy at
The Paul Merage School of Business. Under his leadership, the Center attracts national – and international –
learning and debate on one of today’s most pressing
issues. After nearly 20 years, the Center’s Annual Health
Care Forecast Conference is now a standing-room-only
event held each February. Distinguished speakers also
join in the education and debate throughout the year,
including former House Ways and Means Chairman Bill
Thomas and an international panel of health care advisors who compared their own country’s systems – for
better or for worse. The following provides the flavor of
those events; learn more at merage.uci.edu/go/CHC.
ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED NAMES
Annual Forecast Conference Poses Difficult
Questions and Provides Insightful Possibilities
for Health Care Reform
During the 2009 Health Care Forecast Conference,
Health Politics and Policies in a New Administration,
health care industry leaders from all segments of the
market gathered to address the nation’s most prominent
issue – Health Care Reform. Here is what some of them
had to say.
Dean Rosen, JD, partner at Mehlman Vogen
Castagnetti, Inc. and Former Health Policy Director for
Sentate Majority Leader William H. Frist, asked, “Will the
economy overwhelm reform or will reform pull the economy forward?” He went on to support the connection
between good employee health and economic security,
and he provided that business supports reform – they are
trying to shape reform, not stop it – adding, “We’re not
going to get it all done. What we have done is complete
the SCHIP expansion; health IT is in process; there is
agreement on the quality agenda; and we’re moving
toward more rational entitlement programs. In two years
we can make the case that we followed through. We could
always have done more, but for the economy and other
issues… incremental steps are being taken. Ultimately,”
Rosen commented, “to get reform, the compromise will
have to be formed in the Senate.”
Keynote Speaker Norman J. Ornstein, PhD, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
for Public Policy Research
Norman J. Ornstein, a popular draw for his wit and wisdom, returned to the conference with his keynote address:
“Health Politics and Policies in a New Administration.”
Richard Afable, MD, MPH, president and CEO of Hoag
Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, moderated the session.
Ornstein opened with, “The economy, politics and global
banking: serious things are going to happen, just not
along the path that we have seen in the past.” He recommended the audience “watch the Widen-Bennett Plan
which has bipartisan support.” He also cautioned, “The
Forum Continues Health
Care Reform Debate
M
embers and friends of the Merage School’s
Center for Health Care Management
and Policy continued the debate on
health care reform with Keynote Speaker Bill
Thomas, former chairman of the House Ways and
Means Committee, who spoke at a special sold-out
presentation on campus in May 2009. Thomas was a
key proponent of several of President Bush’s agenda
items, including the Medicare Prescription Drug
Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
During his talk, Politics and Prospects for Health Care
Reform, Thomas focused on the debate in Congress
regarding the health care agenda of the current
Administration.
health care industry is ready for reform, but first we have
to determine if health care is a right or a privilege.”
California State Budget and the Impact on
Health Care
According to Kim Belshe, secretary for
California’s Health & Human Services Agency,
“While California went through an extensive
bipartisan effort in 2007, it ultimately failed.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly
Speaker Fabian Nunez partnered on a reform
strategy requiring individuals to purchase insurance and insurance companies to provide
access. Their plan addressed affordability and
performance improvements. While the effort ultimately failed, many lessons were learned.” She
went on to say, “Leadership is necessary, but not
enough. We have to have bipartisan support. We
also need to focus on delivery,
not just coverage. And, it really
is about the money; health
reform is expensive and we can’t
do it with a budget deficit.”
Belshe believes right now the
federal government is in a better
position than the states to move forward with reform,
however it will require a combination of market-based
and government-based solutions. Belshe closed by pointing out, “First we need to get our fiscal house in order.”
Continued on next page
14
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
15
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
without fixing health care. Since we’d like to see reform in
our lifetime, it’s truly now or never.”
Lessons on a Global Scale: Comparative
Effectiveness in other Countries
A
t press time, the Comparative Effectiveness (CE): Lessons from Abroad conference was about to take place. Along
with other programs sponsored by the Center for Health Care Management and Policy, the Merage School is
tackling the issue of health care reform from all angles. This conference is scheduled to bring together speakers
from Great Britain, Canada and Germany to share insights on their experience, plus health care leaders from the U.S.
will assess the implications of a similar process in this country.
The Comparative Effectiveness Conference is designed to help business leaders determine what the U.S. can learn
from the use of CE analysis. A number of other countries have developed a centralized capacity for coverage decisionmaking linked to the results of CE research. To date, federal funding in the U.S. has focused on research into coverage
decisions. However, a centralized national coverage decision-making process could be included in health reform legislation currently under debate. This conference will pose the question, “How can the U.S. learn from the experiences of
other countries using CE research for coverage decision-making?”
Continued from previous page
Innovations in Health Care Delivery
Bringing care to the underserved is a complex issue
requiring significant research. Margaret Laws, director of
Innovations for the Underserved for the California HealthCare
Foundation asked, “How do we bring innovations to the
‘safety net’ and how do we provide better chronic disease
care?” She indicated the number of underserved is growing and more than 20% of Californians are currently
uninsured. “We’re exploring retail clinics, looking for ways
to continue to improve, exploring telehealth to improve
access and virtual visit programs.” Laws suggested
changing the idea of a “visit” may help to remedy the
crisis in the state. “In California, there is limited access
to the safety net. We need to encourage regulators to
embrace innovation, enabling us to deliver less complex
services differently in order to reduce costs.”
Elizabeth Stewart, PhD, qualitative analyst at
TransforMED, noted, “There is a primary care crisis. We
are losing primary care physicians at an alarming rate.”
She suggested the industry explore the innovative Medical
Care Home as an option for delivery which includes a personal physician and a physician-directed medical practice
using a team approach to address the medical needs of
the “whole person.” “It’s one stop shopping. Care is coordinated and integrated, quality and safety are hallmarks,
and it offers enhanced access. Payment is the greatest
impediment and reimbursement has to catch up. We are
testing the feasibility of the medical home idea and we
don’t know if it will work, but we are cautiously optimistic.”
Early indications suggest positive results on cost savings,
16
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
and the medical home is gaining political traction. “The
challenges are that transformation takes time, outcomes
take time, and people fear it will be a fad like managed
care.”
Strategic Outlook on the Health Care Market
In the final session of the conference, Leslie Margolin,
president and general manager at Anthem Blue Cross,
stated, “We need to fix the system that is very near
crisis and we must work together to build a sustainable healthcare system.” She declared there are
four issues defining health care reform including:
quality and safety, lower costs, access,
and how to finance care. “Costs are
exploding. In California, we’ve seen an
increase in cost of 70% over the past
5 years. Prices are rising and coverage is decreasing. If all plans
participated in public programs, we could eliminate
much of the problem of
the uninsured. Why not? If
we work together we can
guarantee coverage for all
individuals. It’s time to
fix what’s broken.”
The closing speaker
was Sheryl Skolnick,
PhD, senior vice
president at CRT
Capital Group LLC,
The UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business and the
UC Irvine School of Medicine gratefully acknowledge the
educational grants provided by:
PRINCIPAL BENEFACTOR
California HealthCare Foundation
MAJOR BENEFACTORS
CIGNA Health Care of California
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
Kaiser Permanente
who summed up the sentiment prevalent throughout the
entire meeting, “I’m delighted and worried about how
packed this conference is because it suggests to me that
we’re all in need of some guidance, some help with our
thought process, and maybe some strong rope to hold on
to as we pull through these difficult economic times,
globally, locally and specifically in health care.” She questioned how we got to where we are today and where we
might be headed. “Will we see a rational plan to cover the
uninsured at the federal or state level? Will we finally see
“Change” (i.e., a viable health care reform plan and coverage
for uninsured)… or will we see “Chapter” (bankruptcies or
near-bankruptcies of hospitals, other providers, and
health plans)?”
Skolnick encouraged the industry to stand up and speak
out, stating, “It is time for hospitals to say…. enough is
enough. It is time for consumers to say we are tired of
being asked to pay for benefits that deliver no value. It is
time for tax payers to say we must stop spending money
on fraud on waste, on abuse, and on health plans that do
not achieve the same or better outcomes for seniors and
others.” Skolnick closed the 2009 Forecast Health Care
Conference with the thought, “We can’t fix the economy
BENEFACTORS
Anthem Blue Cross
AON Consulting
Beckman Coulter Foundation
Blue Shield of California
CO-BENEFACTORS
Orange County Medical Association
The Annual Health Care Forecast Conference is hosted by
the Merage School’s Center for Health Care Management
and Policy. The Center serves as an interdisciplinary
research institute that enables health care scholars, students, business leaders, policy experts, and professionals
to share critical knowledge, research, trends, information
and education. The Center is under the direction of Paul
J. Feldstein, PhD, professor and Robert Gumbiner Chair
in Health Care Management.
For a complete recap of the conference, visit
merage.uci.edu/go/hcc.
The 2010 Health Care Forecast Conference
February 25-26, 2010
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/hcc
for current Health Care Forecast Conference details and
to view past conference programs and videos.
17
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
How BIG is Your
Global Footprint?
Merage School Hosts Top Business Leaders to
Address Global Economic Challenges
by Anne Warde
one of the most challenging
economic crises in our country’s history. The events taking
place today are reshaping the banking and investment
world as we know it,” said Andy Policano, dean of The
Paul Merage School of Business. “By gathering the input
of these experienced leaders, we are providing our business community access to some of the most brilliant
economic minds in the world.”
With those opening words, the Merage School joined
the Orange County Business Council (OCBC) in hosting
the School’s annual Global Business Conference titled,
Global Business Strategies… Navigating Today’s
Economic Challenges. Some of Orange County’s most
influential leaders were on hand to discuss the impact
and solutions to today’s growing economic challenges.
“WE ARE CURRENTLY FACING
Dr. Max Zedtwitz, vice president, PRTM Management
Consultants, kicked off the morning segment with a look
at the global economy and the role Orange County might
play.
“It was said capitalism will save China. It looks more
like China can perhaps save capitalism,” Zedtwitz commented citing the fact that China provides much of the
movement and growth in the world. “Globalization is the
key to a better life for these countries.
Through
it they are getting into a life that
they
have been promised, unlocking
what the future
holds.” He went on to warn, “Emerging countries want to
catch up, and we want to stay in front. China is leap-frogging ahead. If we don’t
start running a little,
they will bypass us.”
To keep a strategic advantage,
Zedtwitz
recommends focusing efforts
on customer orientation, product management,
innovation, and
investment in research and development. Specifically he
notes, “If we want
to keep a step ahead, we need
to make sure we
are taking steps forward in R&D.
Other countries
walk in our footsteps, but sooner
or later they will
have to go into territories where
no one has gone
before. India and China are laying foundations for success with lean manufacturing,
quality management, JIT
(just in time) manufacturing and kanban. We
need to find the
perfect balance between east
and west. If we don’t
make use of it, somebody else
will.”
The conference continued
with a panel discussion, led by Michael Aghajanian, managing director of
PRTM and conference co-chair, on international strategies and global footprints.
Panelists discussed
risk assessment and the
rewards of global business, along with the concept
of global footprints and
the strategic issues of
international business.
Panelists participating included: David Pyott,
chairman and CEO of Allergan; John O’Connor, director
of Global Supply Chain for Cisco; Stephen Marlow,
executive vice president for Toshiba America Electronic
Components, and board member for the Center for
Unconventional Security Affairs at UC Irvine, and
Kate Gutmann, vice president, worldwide strategic
accounts for UPS.
Much of the discussion surrounded the advantages
of local cost centers for labor and escalating operational
risks, specifically how to mitigate escalating global footprint risk, inventory de-risking, and eliminating issues
affecting supply. Security and safety are a growing concern and it was noted Europe is a relatively safe
environment, while Asia presents multiple risks.
Businesses seeking to reduce costs are migrating to low
cost areas; however, low cost areas are unstable and
crisis management becomes standard. The importance
of risk analytics was emphasized as a tool to
determine how much risk a
company is
willing to
tolerate.
A second panel,
moderated by Wayne Gross,
a partner at Snell and Wilmer law firm and including
Bijan Kian, director of US Export Import Bank; Geoffrey
Jackson, US Trade and Development Agency director of
Policy and Program and regional director for East Asia,
and Cindy McKim, chief financial officer of the California
Department of Transportation, explored global public/
private partnerships and how companies can access capital
and the funding resources available through government
partnerships and agencies.
The panel pointed out how successful companies are
focused on increasing relevance to the customer and
designing a better
customer experience. They are also
If we want to keep a step
differentiating their
ahead, we need to make
products, driving
profitable growth
sure we are taking steps
and managing
complexities. The
forward in R&D. Other
panel recommended companies
countries walk in our
empower their
footsteps, but sooner or
frontlines, expand
the delivery
later they will have to go
ecosystem and
focus on innovainto territories where no
tion and patent
development.
one has gone before.
Esteemed
economist and
managing director of PIMCO, Paul McCulley, was the
keynote speaker of the two-day event, and spoke on “The
Paradox of De-Leveraging.”
McCulley shared his insights on how the rational personal decisions of individuals irrationally impact the U.S.
and global economy. Robert E. Wollan, global managing
partner
for Accenture followed with his presentation on
the Seismic Shift in Global
Consumerism.
Dr. Wallace Walrod, vice president
of Economic Development and Communications for the
Orange County Business Council gave an overview of economic development
in Orange County.
The conference
concluded with
a final
panel
moderated by Dean Andy
Policano, which focused on
Orange County’s global influence and featured business
leaders Steve Tully, president,
Quiksilver Brand (Americas);
Mike Mussallem, Chairman
and CEO, Edwards
Lifesciences; Aram Bassenian,
chairman and CEO of
Bassenian Lagoni Architects,
and Ed Grier, president of
the Disneyland Resort.
“
”
18
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
19
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Ken Neeld, ‘07
A LU M N I BU S I N E S S E S
The Business of Businesses
Staying Involved is Common Denominator Among Entrepreneurs
by Anne Warde
for staying involved and
maintaining a network of business associates long after
the MBA experience is complete. Some business leaders
who volunteer their time and expertise to educational
organizations see their participation as a way to give
back. Some see the Merage School as a catalyst for real
change and improvement. Almost all see the benefits
derived from their involvement with the Merage School for
years beyond their graduation.
Ken Neeld, for example, is no stranger to the business
world. He graduated from the Merage School in 2007.
Years before, in 1995, Neeld had co-founded what was
then was Delphi Engineering Group. Today, his company
T H E R E I S M U C H TO B E S AI D
has evolved into Delphi Display Systems and has become
a leading manufacturer of ruggedized LDC display systems for the outdoor signage market.
Delphi Display employs about 50 people at two locations in Costa Mesa. Plans are underway to relocate into
a single facility by the end of 2009, allowing Neeld to
consolidate operations, improve efficiencies and reduce
costs.
“My MBA experience provided me with more focus and
helped me look at my business in a lot of different ways,”
said Neeld. “We’re looking at both long and short term
strategies to design a clear path for the business moving
forward.”
Like most companies, Delphi Display has endured
some hardship during the current economic environment.
However, through strategies he learned at the Merage
School, they’ve weathered the storm and are positioned
for growth.
“We had to implement cost reductions, scale back discretionary spending and reduce labor, but now we’re
scaling back up,” Neeld stated. “We’ve optimized our
operations and we are focusing more attention on our
long term strategy. We’re actually spending more on R&D
and product development to be in prime position to grab
market share when things turn around.”
Neeld is a member of the Dean’s Leadership Circle
executive committee, a network that he credits with helping to build his business.
“We do on-campus recruiting and have hired several
people from UC Irvine. The referral network and quality of
individuals we’ve hired is remarkable,” Neeld concluded.
Rob Henderson, an entrepreneur in his own right, graduated in 2007. Henderson came to the Merage School
with decades of experience.
“I had worked in the custom building products for 20
years,” said Henderson. “I began to realize the industry
was going through a lot of change and I realized I would
need to do something to strengthen my position in the
market and expand my opportunities. I chose to pursue
an MBA at the Merage School.”
Henderson’s decision couldn’t have come at a better
time. Not long after enrolling in the School’s MBA program, he found himself unemployed. However, leveraging
his connections with the Merage School and utilizing the
knowledge he had gained from the program, Henderson
was able to live his dream and soon became his own
boss.
In March of 2008,
Henderson purchased
his first company and
then purchased a second one in July of the
same year. He folded
the two companies
together under the
name Advanced Pacific
Rob Henderson, ‘07
Tank, which designs
and manufactures a
full line of specialty tanks used to transport and store
light viscosity materials.
According to Henderson, “It was extremely satisfying to
transform a company from a stodgy ‘mom and pop’
organization into a modern sophisticated business poised
for growth.” He continued, “We purchased the second
company to eliminate a competitor, then invested in
equipment and implemented LEAN manufacturing techniques. Professor Leonard Lane and a team of Merage
School students also came out and provided some guidance on business growth and accounting. Today, we’re
entering new markets and we have all the pieces in place.
When the economy stabilizes, we’re ready to go.”
Henderson still networks with his former class members, especially his team members with whom he talks
almost every week. He is also a member of the Dean’s
Leadership Circle where he found the lead on the first
company he purchased.
Paula Milano received her MSA in
1980, when the Merage School was
still the Graduate School of
Management. While she spent 30
years working in the technology
business, she credits her master’s
level education with helping her land
a job at Hewlett Packard.
Paula Milano, ‘80
“At the time, Hewlett Packard was
only hiring engineers with MBAs”
said Milano. “I was the only person I knew of who
didn’t have an undergrad in engineering; mine was in
economics.”
Milano has since left Hewlett Packard to pursue several
businesses on her own. She founded Axion Solutions in
1997, which sold and implemented Oracle applications
for the mid-market. In 2005, following the sale of Axion,
Milano founded Ki Solutions, an SAP Certified Channel
Partner. She sold Ki Solutions in December 2007, but
stayed on with Idhasoft – the company that purchased Ki
Solutions – for a year coaching and providing leadership
training through the transition.
Milano commented, “It was always my intent to develop
these companies to the point they could be sold. I was
fortunate in that the timing was good. It was very satisfying seeing something you built become profitable and
then be able to sell that business to an even larger organization.”
On her own again, Milano’s goal is to pursue a new
career in consulting and teaching. She is currently in the
process of being certified in coaching. Already a member
of the Dean’s Leadership Circle, Milano is entertaining
the idea of volunteering with the Merage School’s Don
Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, an obvious fit for a proven entrepreneur.
“I feel it’s important to give back to the school that
contributed so much to my career,” said Milano. “I really
believe that the more successful the School is, the more
successful I can be.”
20
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21
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
The Treasure Box
A Whole(some) New Way to Serve A Channel
by Connie Clark
C
raig Shugert’s (MBA ’93) newest customer
base isn’t wealthy or successful. Many don’t
earn a salary. They’re always strapped for
funds, and their own customers might go days
without eating. But they represent a rapidly growing market and Shugert is happy to serve them.
Welcome to The Treasure Box, a non-profit initiative
that’s helping feed hungry families. Started by Shugert in
2008 as a natural offshoot of Good Source Solutions, his
Carlsbad, CA-based food distribution company, The
Treasure Box, delivers frozen, pre-assembled boxes to
clients including food banks, community outreach programs and churches.
Launching the initiative
required a different approach.
“This was about thinking outside of the box and seeing
people who really needed our
help,” Shugert says.
“Sometimes it isn’t about making money. Sometimes you
have to use all of your innovation and creativity to figure
out a way that you can help.”
Shugert was a newcomer to the company in 2006,
when he took over for retiring CEO Andrew McCluskey.
Charged with new product development and targeted
sales in emergent channels, Shugert sought to strengthen
the company’s position as a leading distributor for niche
and special application markets.
With a background in consumer goods, along with a
Merage School MBA, Shugert went to work. Along the
way, he discovered an emerging channel almost literally
in the company’s backyard.
According to the San Diego Food Bank, nearly half a million people face hunger in San Diego. That doesn’t include
the large numbers of military families stationed there. “An
enlisted person makes $20,000 a year,” Shugert says. “How
do you feed a family on that with today’s food prices?”
Leveraging Good Source’s buying
power and relationships with more
than 500 leading food companies,
Shugert knew he could
offer high quality nutrition to this market
at a fraction of its retail price.
With a retail value of $75 to $100 and
enough food to feed a family of four lunch and dinner for
a week, each Treasure Box costs $30. Churches and food
banks foot the bill through private donations, fundraisers
and often, Good Source itself. Customers say they are
pleased, since the program requires only a handful of
volunteers for distribution. That’s a big plus for organizations that find themselves short on volunteers in troubled
economic times.
Although The Treasure Box has developed a strong
presence throughout California, the initiative isn’t without
its challenges. “Our most significant costs are freight
charges,” Shugert says. “But as orders increase, we’re
optimistic about the future.”
If Shugert’s leadership at Good Source is any indication,
The Treasure Box will continue to thrive. Good Source
revenues have grown in excess of $100 million and have
experienced an average compounded growth rate of 8%.
“We’ve continued to grow during this recession at rates
greater than most food service companies,” says Shugert.
In addition, he’s challenged his sales team to grow into new
markets to achieve growth rates in excess of 15% per year.
There’s no doubt the sales team will perform, considering the mutual respect Shugert fosters.
Earlier this year Shugert and his team sorted and
served food at the San Diego Food Bank. The company
also donated Treasure Boxes to everyone in attendance.
Shugert says the work was inspiring for employees.
“When somebody comes up to you and says, ‘I wouldn’t
have been able to feed my
family this week without you
guys,’ that’s pretty powerful.”
For a company that measures success in dollar
amounts and in the number
of people it’s truly helping,
The Treasure Box and Good
Source seem to be right on
the money.
MBA
For the Greater Good
by Anne Warde
internship during the summer of 2005
turned into the career Liana
Constantinescu had dreamt about.
After graduating from USC with a
degree in gerontology, Constantinescu
applied her skills to a job in social
work. There she spent her time
working with elderly clients who
were homeless or near-homeless,
trying to connect them with services
to help them survive.
“It’s that ‘service gene’ in me,”
Constantinescu jokes. “At one point
I wanted to become a doctor, but as
I explored my opportunities, I discovered I really wanted to take a
management role in helping
patients.”
Constantinescu applied to The
Paul Merage School of Business
and was accepted in 2004. The
summer of the following year, with
the help of the Merage School’s
mentor program, she landed an
internship at Silverado Senior
Living, Inc. It was there that she
found her calling.
Initially Constantinescu served as
Assistant Administrator for
Silverado’s Encinitas community.
But shortly after completing her MBA,
she was promoted to Administrator
for the Newport Mesa community
located in Costa Mesa.
“In Costa Mesa we have an 82
bed long term care program. It’s an
assisted living community with a
social engagement environment
with a medical model. We focus on
the social programs to help those
with dementia live a fulfilled life
with many activities during their
day. We encourage residents to
W H AT S TART E D AS AN M BA
stay active for a sense of purpose
and the feeling they are contributing
members of society.
“I find it very satisfying. Every day
I’m here to serve our residents, my
associates, the company and the
families. It’s extremely fulfilling,”
said Constantinescu. “There is a
tremendous need for the kind of
personal and medical services a
Merage School MBA.”
Since Constantinescu took the
lead, the community she manages
has been recognized for outstanding management in terms of
staffing and expenses. Through her
efforts the program’s census continues to grow. She received the
company’s Rising Star Community
award for 2008.
facility like Silverado offers,”
Constantinescu continued. “It’s
quite gratifying to be able to utilize
my business skills to benefit members of the community.”
Constantinescu credits her
Merage School MBA with giving her
the operations, marketing, and
financial expertise she needed to
help her gain a clear picture on how
to manage a complex business.
“I started at Silverado as an
intern and now I manage all areas
of the residence,” she said. “I
couldn’t have done it without my
“The company uses my community
as an example for other locations.
Many new hires go through this
community for training. We’ve really set the standard for how a
community should operate,” said
Constantinescu.
Constantinescu recently joined
the Merage School Dean’s
Leadership Circle. “I feel it’s important to give back to your
community. I try and do that
through my career and through my
ongoing relationship with the
School.”
22
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23
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
STUDENTS
STUDENTS
COMPETITION HEATS UP
for CRE-NAIOP Fellowship
ALT H O U GH T H E W I N N E R of the first CRE-NAIOP
Fellowship will be announced after publication, many
applications have been submitted by hopeful first year
and continuing MBAs enrolled in the Merage School with
an interest in real estate as a career.
Established in August 2009, the fellowship is the result
of a partnership between NAIOP SoCal, the region’s leading commercial real estate organization, and the School’s
Center for Real Estate (CRE). Together these organizations will provide one deserving student each year with
financial support to pursue an unparalleled learning
experience with some of the nation’s top real estate executives and scholars.
“We are making a concerted effort to draw in the best
and brightest real estate students to the Merage School,”
by Anne Warde
said the Center’s associate director, Sharon NakamuraBrown. “This is a unique fellowship that serves the dual
goal of providing financial support and a practical working experience for the recipients to advance their
understanding of the industry.”
The CRE-NAIOP Fellowship will provide one deserving
winner each year with a $7,500 financial award. The fellowship will be honored in the form of tuition over a
period of three quarters, beginning fall 2009. To provide
a richer learning experience, the student will also be
given the opportunity to become an intern or mentee at
an NAIOP member company along with the opportunity
to serve an internship with the NAIOP SoCal Board of
Directors. For more information about the fellowship
visit merage.uci.edu/go/CRE.
Would You Qualify?
F R E S H M AN AP P L I C AT I O N S for the
third class of business administration undergrads at The Paul Merage
School of Business are coming in
and by all indications, the bar has
already been raised. Only 12 percent of applicants were accepted in
the first year, resulting in a selectivity rate that is more competitive
than nearly all top ranked undergraduate business programs. With
4,000+ freshman applications
Competition Fierce for
Business Undergrad Program
expected for Fall 2010, getting in
could be tough.
Competition for a spot in the program is fierce with GPA and SAT
scores for Merage School undergrads
remaining the highest of any school
on the UC Irvine campus. Incoming
freshman entering the business program have a mean GPA of 4.03 and
their mean composite SAT scores
exceed the 83rd percentile.
Just introduced in Fall of 2008,
the program already has a total of
350 students. The first class of 100
students has moved on to their
sophomore year and another 250
have already begun instruction.
Another 50, who will transfer or
change majors from other schools or
other programs, will join as juniors
in Fall 2010. Full capacity for the
program is 600, which the school
expects to reach by academic year
2011-12.
Please join us for our 2009 - 2010
Merage School Clubs Energize Students
on the
leading edge of digital communications,
from Twitter tweets to Facebook and
LinkedIn groups. After the successful
launch this year of the innovative new
website at merage.uci.edu, subsequent
development now includes an updated look
for the Merage Student Association (MSA)
whose goal is to provide social, learning
and networking opportunities for all
Merage School students.
An energetic society, the Merage
Student Association coordinates student
sponsored activities such as Career Day,
the annual Awards Banquet, and numerous other social, athletic and recreational
activities. At the core of the Student
Association are the individual clubs and
networking groups. Extremely active, the MSA strives to meet the needs of students by providing a sense of
community and cooperation, both on and off campus. It is a valuable supplement to the educational goals of
The Paul Merage School of Business. To learn more, visit merage.uci.edu/msa.
Distinguished Speaker Series
T H E M E R AGE S C H O O L R E M AI N S
24
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
Neel Grover
President &
Chief Executive Officer
Buy.com
NOVEMBER
Sue Swenson
President &
Chief Executive Officer
Sage Software
5
JANUARY
Event Details:
All events, 6:00 - 7:00pm
Reception to follow
RSVP required
For more information visit our website at
merage.uci.edu/go/dss
21
Mike Mussallem
John Krafcik
Chairman &
Chief Executive Officer
Edwards Lifesciences
M A RCH
President &
Chief Executive Officer
Hyundai Motor America
4
MAY
6
Register for all events and receive a significant discount.
SERIES OF
FOUR EVENTS
INDIVIDUAL
EVENTS
General Public
$150
$50
Merage Alumni
$75
$25
Free for Dean’s Leadership Circle, Corporate Partners, and students
with event registration.
We want to thank the sponsors of the 2009-2010 Distinguished Speaker Series: Bingham McCutchen LLP, Capital Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers,
and Wells Fargo (as of September 2009). Their generosity has made this series a signature event at the Merage School.
Merage
|
25
2009 – 2010
MBA PROGRAMS
A
ccording to a recent article in the Los Angeles
Times, unpaid Medicare claims are “forcing
some physicians to reject elderly patients and
jeopardizing the solvency of others. Some
physicians are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
While this is only one example, it’s clear the world of
healthcare is constantly evolving and the rules are changing
every day. What may have appeared as a clear path to
success is now proving to be a tough road to follow, especially in light of the current economic environment. Being a
skilled physician may no longer be enough. Some doctors
are seeking specialized MBAs to help keep their careers
moving.
“It was very apparent early in my training that I would
need some business skills if I was going to impact my
patients’ lives in a significant way,” said Timur S. Durrani,
MD, MPH, MBA, CPT, MC, FS, USAR, a senior public
health analyst for the Civil Military Operation Center,
MBA PROGRAMS
dous change in the delivery of healthcare and the
demand for improved outcomes, disease prevention and
wellness programs will increase. In order to compete,
physicians must position themselves to take advantages
of the opportunities that arise.
“Currently patients do receive the benefits of a comprehensive healthcare system. However, I think this is going
to change in the coming years, as payors start incentivizing
for improved outcomes and focusing on prevention and
wellness,” said Durrani.
“Changing the current healthcare model is critically
important. Every year, there are decreasing revenues from
Medicare and private insurers to medical providers, while
costs to provide care to patients are increasing. In addition,
patients want the best care possible including cuttingedge technologies and treatments,” said Merage School
Alumnus, Michael Gillman MD, ‘08, an orthopedic surgeon. “By incorporating into your practice an education
decisions and how they’re made. I approach business
decisions in a much more effective way, which has
prompted others to seek my advice on surgery center
issues, operating room issues, and more. My peers
routinely rely on me to help with problems and make
sure our group is functioning as efficiently and effectively
as possible.”
“At The Paul Merage School of Business, we offer a
HCEMBA program that was designed with the physician
in mind. Not only are our class selections optimized to
meet the unique needs of medical doctors, but our
schedules and administration processes are, too,” said
Debbie Moysychyn, MBA, ‘06, executive director of the
HCEMBA program at the Merage School. “Most doctors
and other healthcare professionals have difficulty getting
away to participate in classes. By scheduling meetings
once a month, our students have the opportunity to participate and gain the full benefit of our program.”
Work Experience: A minimum of five years of work
experience (residency can count), 12 years on average.
Work experience is heavily valued, with emphasis on
increasing amounts of responsibility through the progression of your career.
Current Employment: A health care position with significant management responsibility or an entrepreneurial
role with top-level responsibility.
Career Goals: Clearly defined goals that a HCEMBA
would help achieve. It is important to define how you
expect to use the knowledge, skills and contacts you
will develop.
Motivation and Temperament: Energy, drive and ambition to succeed. The HCEMBA program will demand a
significant amount of time and effort on top of your
job responsibilities, and students must be highly motivated to successfully accomplish the program.
ISPhysicians
IT Look
TIME
TO
GO
BACK
TO
SCHOOL?
Beyond Their MDs
by Anne Warde
Combined Joint Task Force – 101st Airborne Division in
Afghanistan. “I was still a resident when I applied to The
Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine. I felt management was something that should have been part of
my medical school training.”
Durrani is a graduate of the Health Care Executive MBA
(HCEMBA) program at the Merage School in 2008. Today,
Durrani is working in Afghanistan seeking to improve the
country’s basic health. “In my current role, I interact with
multiple international agencies. The global management
and negotiations training I received as part of the Merage
School’s HCEMBA program helped prepare me for the
work I am doing now. Also, the integrated curriculum of
dealing with group dynamics has been very useful, as I
deal with this on a daily basis.”
“It’s not enough to be a good physician,” said Jeffrey
Koempel, MD, MBA, ‘05. “Today you have to be a good
business person as well to be successful. I believe, in the
next 5 to 10 years, any physician in a higher position in an
academic center or other large healthcare organization
will most likely have an additional graduate degree of
some kind.” Koempel is a pediatric otolaryngologist, associate professor at the University of Southern California,
and Merage School graduate.
In the coming years, the U.S. is likely to see tremen-
in management, negotiations, accounting, finance or
investment, you are prepared to recognize opportunities
for providing better care and meeting the requirements of
payors.”
Some physicians seek to enhance their practices and
further benefit from the satisfaction they receive treating
patients. For these medical doctors, a HCEMBA provides
the management skills and business savvy they need to
maintain a successful practice and build a bright personal
future. For those seeking to move into careers outside of
patient care, a HCEMBA sets them apart from their competition and helps build strong leadership and decisionmaking skills that will drive success.
“Following the completion of my HCEMBA program, my
approach to managing people has changed for the better.
I have made better financial decisions both in my professional and personal life. I am confident when reviewing
financial statements and accounting statements: I know
how to interpret them and look for problems. I am also
better positioned to achieve my long-term strategic
goals,” said Gillman.
“While I enjoy being a surgeon, I don’t think I want to
do it forever. By getting an MBA, I can develop my career
beyond the O.R.,” said Koempel. “As a business school
graduate, I understand a lot more about management
A Health Care Executive MBA is a specialized type of
MBA. The right candidate for a Health Care Executive
MBA typically has:
Educational Background: A Bachelor’s degree
(required) and possibly a graduate or doctoral degree.
Many students hold the title of MD, MPH, DDS, DO,
OD, RN or PharmD.
Learn more about the Health Care Executive MBA
Program at an information session, held three times per
month on campus and throughout California. During the
information session you’ll hear from admissions staff,
current students and alumni, and have the opportunity to
ask questions. Visit merage.uci.edu/go/HCEMBA for
dates and locations.
26
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27
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
MBA PROGRAMS
Shaheen Husain
Recipient of Taco
Bell’s “Sauce
Packet Award”
Executive
Director of Corporate Relations &
Business Development at the Merage
School was presented with the highlyregarded “Sauce Packet Award” by
Merage School Corporate Partner
Representative Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell.
“On behalf of all Taco Bell
associates, we thank Shaheen for
upholding the standard of excellence,”
said Creed. “She is a great example
of how one person can use her professional and personal influence to
create a strong and lasting relationship between the University and the
corporate world.”
SHAHEEN HUSAIN,
MBA PROGRAMS
E M BA/H C E M BA
EMBA Program
Recruits Stars
The Executive MBA Program is
growing and the School is proud to
announce the following three outstanding talents have joined the team:
J OA N N
PI T T E LO U D
joins the Merage
School as the
Associate
Director,
Executive MBA
Admissions, and
will serve on the Program
Management team to identify and
recruit qualified Executive MBA students. Pitteloud comes to the
Merage School with a combination
of expertise in small-business growth
advising, coaching, and consulting.
Her professional experience includes
Director of MBA Admissions and
Financial Aid at the International
Institute for Management
Development, (IMD), in Lausanne,
Switzerland, where she was responsible for recruiting full-time MBA
students. Pitteloud earned a BA in
business communications from
Michigan State University and an
MA in Organizational Leadership
from Biola University.
M A RT Y B E L L
The Sauce Packet Award is given
by Creed to a select few individuals
who demonstrate outstanding efforts
in helping build the Taco Bell brand.
Shaheen was selected for her inspiring and tireless efforts in promoting
the Merage School/Taco Bell partnership over the last several years
through the Corporate Partners
Program.
28
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
has been selected
as Director of
Program Services
for the Executive
MBA Programs.
Bell is responsible
for logistics and
operations of program management
including scheduling, faculty and
university policies and procedures.
For the past sixteen years Bell has
served as the Assistant Dean of
Undergraduate Business Programs,
Director of the Full-Time MBA
Program overseeing both Admissions
and Student Services, Director of MBA
Program and Student Services for all
MBA Programs, and he has an ongoing role as the Director of MBA
Financial Aid. Prior to coming to the
Merage School, Bell was Assistant
Director of Financial Aid at UC Irvine
and Director of Financial Aid at
Orange Coast Community College.
DOUG
REGNIER
has
accepted a position as Student
Affairs Officer.
Together with
Marty Bell,
Regnier is responsible for logistics for both the
Executive MBA and Health Care
Executive MBA programs and student needs. Prior to joining the
Merage School, Regnier managed
the internal purchasing, travel and
credit card programs for Intuit in
San Diego, where he served as a
business analyst for accounts payable
and managed the company’s credit
card program. Doug earned his BA
in Art History at UC Santa Barbara.
F E M BA
CO N I
ZINGARELLI
has been appointed Associate
Director of the
Fully Employed
MBA (FEMBA)
program, where
she will oversee all aspects of
FEMBA Student Affairs. Zingarelli
is a current member of the Dean’s
Leadership Circle and a recent Merage
School alum. She received her MBA
in the FEMBA program with a spe-
cialization in Strategy in June 2008.
As a student, she served in the
Merage Student Association as VP of
Programs for Working Professionals.
Prior to joining the Merage School,
Zingarelli served as Director of
Special Events for Grill Concepts,
Inc., where she was responsible for
business development and management of event operations at 33
locations nationwide. Zingarelli
received her BA from the
Pennsylvania State University in
Social and Behavioral Science.
LEADERSHIP and
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
SERVICES
- Leadership and Team
Assessment Tools
- Executive Coaching
F T M BA
- Consulting Services
J AYC E E C H U
has been promoted to Associate
Director of
Program Services
for the Full-Time
MBA Program.
Chu has been
with the Merage School since
September 2008 as the Assistant
Director of Program Services. She
has been at UC Irvine since 2006
where she began in Student Affairs
with the Physics and Astronomy
Department. Before joining UC
Irvine, Jaycee was the Program
Coordinator for USC’s
Undergraduate Success Program.
Jaycee received her BS in Hotel
and Restaurant Management from
The Collins College of Hospitality
Management at Cal Poly Pomona
and a MEd degree in Postsecondary
Administration and Student Affairs
from USC.
The Associate Director of Program
Services is a key point of contact for
faculty, staff, and current students.
Jaycee will oversee student advising,
curriculum planning and scheduling,
intensive and international residential
planning, and international
exchange programs.
- Public Leadership Programs
- Custom Programs
merage.uci.edu/go/leadership
The Office of Executive Education and the
Center for Leadership and Team
Development (CLTD) at UC Irvine’s Paul
Merage School of Business are collaborating to offer the professional community an
array of educational programs and services.
Each is designed to help individuals and
organizations assess leadership styles and
competencies and develop action plans to
support the development and enhancement of effective leadership practices.
All of our programs and services are taught
by our highly qualified faculty that include
world-class professors from the Merage
School and Fellows of CLTD, who present
the most current research on leadership
practices with relevant, practical applicability. They are carefully selected from among
the best in the profession for their outstanding academic credentials, business
experience, and ability to effectively communicate their knowledge to others. Our
faculty and Fellows have extensive experience working with corporations of all sizes
and industries, including government and
non-profits, and understand the real-world
leadership challenges being faced today.
FACULTY INSIGHTS
FACULTY INSIGHTS
major obstacles to a negotiating team’s success: aligning
the conflicting interests held by members of your own
team and implementing a disciplined strategy at the
bargaining table.
Faculty
Research
Faculty research is an important
part of the Merage School’s focus
on strategic innovation. Following
are summaries of 12 recent
papers by our faculty members
(names in bold) or co-written with
colleagues from other UC Irvine
departments or other universities.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Use of Pricing Schemes for
Differentiating Information Goods
By Vidyanand Choudhary
W H E N U N D I F F E R E N T I AT E D F I R M S
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
How to Manage Your Negotiating
Team: The Biggest Challenge May
Be on Your Own Side of the Table
By Kristin Behfar, Jeanne Brett and
Ray Friedman
often unwittingly, routinely undermine one
another and thus their team’s
across-the-table strategies. This
study explores 45 negotiating
teams from a wide array of industries, including finance, health care, publishing,
manufacturing, telecom, and nonprofit. Findings show the
biggest challenges
these teams faced
Findings show the
came from their own
side of the table.
biggest challenges
Drawing on the lessons learned from the
these teams faced
experiences of these
teams, this study
came from their own
offers advice on how
side of the table.
to manage the two
T E AM M E M B E R S ,
“
30
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
S E L L commoditized products in a
friction-free market with fully
informed buyers, the equilibrium
price falls to unit cost and the sellers do not earn any profit. This
well-known result from Economics
is known as the Bertrand equilibrium. Prior research has
established that the Bertrand equilibrium may not hold
under some conditions. However, this paper shows that
under conditions that are expected to yield the Bertrand
equilibrium, firms may be able to earn large (monopoly)
profits when buyers are heterogeneous in their demand
and sellers can offer different pricing schemes. The paper
demonstrates the existence of a Pareto-dominant equilibrium where competing firms adopt different pricing
schemes even though they sell the same product. The
paper offers an explanation for the observed diversity in
pricing schemes (such as per-user pricing and site licensing) offered by sellers of information goods.
”
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Complementarities in the Diffusion
of Personal Computers and the
Internet: Implications for the
Global Digital Divide
By Sanjeev
Dewan, Ken
Kraemer and
Dale Ganley
(doctoral
alumnus)
T H I S PAP E R
STUDIES
the
cross-country diffusion of personal computers (PCs) and
the Internet, and examines how the diffusive interactions
across these technologies affect the evolution of the global
digital divide. Whereas prior research has focused on factors that explain the existence or widening of the digital
divide between developed and developing countries, this
paper focuses on a factor the authors believe contributes
to the narrowing of the global digital divide, which is the
complementarity in the diffusion of personal computers
(PCs) and the Internet. The findings indicate co-diffusion
effects between PCs and the Internet are complementary
in nature and the impact of PCs on Internet diffusion is
substantially stronger in developing countries as compared
to developed ones. Further, the results suggest that these
co-diffusive effects are a significant driver of the narrowing
of the digital divide. Policy implications are also examined
along with how complementarities in the diffusion of PC
and Internet technologies might be harnessed to further
accelerate the narrowing of the global digital divide.
MARKETING
Consumer Identity Renaissance: The
Resurgence of Identity-Inspired
Consumption in Retirement
By Mary Gilly, Hope Jensen Schau
and Mary Wolfinbarger (doctoral
alums)
U S I N G M U LT I -M E T H O D DATA,
this team investigates retirement
as a life stage centered on consumption, where cultural scripts
are particularly contested and in
flux, and where they witness an increase in breadth and
depth of identity-related consumption which they term
consumer identity renaissance. While prior research on
older consumers focuses on corporeal and cognitive
decline and its impact on individual decision making situations, this paper focuses on the competency and growth
potential of those who have exited their formal productive
stage, and privilege consumption as a means to create
and enact identity. Contrary to the perceived view of
older consumers simply reviewing and integrating their
already-developed identities, this paper finds retirement
can be a time of extensive identity work with multiple
revived and emergent inspirations weaving across all time
orientations (past, present and future) and involving
intricate consumption enactments.
31
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
FACULTY INSIGHTS
FACULTY INSIGHTS
FINANCE
Do Individual Investors Cause
Post-Earnings Announcement Drift?
Direct Evidence from Personal Trades
By David
Hirshleifer,
Siew Hong
Teoh, James
N. and Linda
A. Myers
T H I S S T U DY
TESTS
whether naïve trading by individual investors, or some
class of individual investors, causes post-earnings
announcement drift (PEAD). Inconsistent with the individual trading hypothesis, individual investor trading fails to
subsume any of the power of extreme earnings surprises
to predict future abnormal returns. Moreover, individuals
are significant net buyers after both negative and positive
extreme earnings surprises, consistent with an attention
effect, but not with their trading causing PEAD. Finally,
we find no indication that trading by individuals explains
the concentration of drift at subsequent earnings
announcement dates.
FINANCE
Driven to Distraction: Extraneous
Events and Underreaction to
Earnings News
By David
Hirshleifer,
Siew Hong
Teoh, and S.
Lim
RECENT
STUDIES
PROPOSE
that limited investor attention causes market underreactions. This paper directly tests this explanation by
measuring the information load faced by investors. The
investor distraction hypothesis holds that extraneous
news inhibits market reaction to relevant news. We find
that the immediate price and volume reaction to a firm’s
earnings surprise is much weaker, and post-announce-
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e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
ment drift much stronger, when a greater number of
same-day earnings announcements are made by other
firms. We evaluate the economic importance of distraction effects through a trading strategy, which yields
substantial alphas. Industry-unrelated news and large
absolute earnings surprises have a stronger distracting
effect.
MARKETING
Effects of Indirectly and Directly
Competing Reference Group
Messages and Persuasion
Knowledge: Implications for
Educational Placements
By Cornelia Pechmann and
Liangyan Wang (doctoral alumnus)
were conducted among 2,850 adolescents
where versions of a real television
program with an antismoking
educational placement were tested
against a control. Educational
placements increasingly replace public service announcements but their efficacy is questioned because they
invariably contain mixed messages. In an antismoking
program, there are typically three indirectly competing
messages about referents: smokers are attractive and
prevalent but disapproved of. The study found for smokers, the educational placement was counterattitudinal.
Thus when the epilogue disclosed the placement and
evoked persuasion knowledge,
smokers actually
Educational placements
generated more
positive smoker
increasingly replace
beliefs and
intent. The findpublic service announceings contribute
ments but their efficacy
to the literatures
on competing
is questioned because
referent
messages,
they invariably contain
disclosures
and persuasion
mixed messages.
knowledge.
T W O E XP E R I M E N T S
“
”
ACCOUNTING
Earnings Management Strategies
and the Trade-Off between Tax
Benefits and Detection Risk: To
Conform or Not to Conform?
By Morton Pincus, Brad
Badertscher, John Phillips, and
Sonja Olhoft Rego
THIS STUDY EXTENDS EARL IER
research concerned with whether
and how managers exploit the generally greater discretion available
under U.S. financial accounting
standards vis-à-vis income tax rules to manage earnings
(i.e., cook the books). In particular, the study investigates
the prevalence of, and firm characteristics that impact
the choice between, managing earnings upwards in ways
that do or do not have current income tax consequences
(respectively referred to as “book-tax non-conforming” or
“book-tax conforming” earnings management). The study
analyzes companies that restated their earnings for
shareholder reporting purposes due to accounting irregularities and finds that restating companies generally
employed earnings management strategies that
increased the earnings they reported to shareholders
without increasing the companies’ taxable earnings.
Moreover, the study shows companies traded off the net
present value of tax benefits against the net expected
costs of being detected as an earnings manager.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Intercommunity Relationships and
Community Growth in China’s
High Technology Industries
By Claudia Bird Schoonhoven, A.
Zhang and H. Li
T H I S PAP E R R E P O RT S O N A
unique panel study of 53 national
technology development zones in
China spanning 1988 – 2000. The
question addressed is what predicts community revenue growth?
The group examines how inter-community relationships
affect the revenue growth of organizational communities,
controlling for community age, provincial versus central
government origin, R&D and export intensiveness, political importance of city location, local city GDP, cities'
degrees of industrialization, city foreign direct investment, city colleges, and calendar year to control for
China’s substantial development since 1988. The findings
show that greater community density (number of zones
in a given region), a community’s geographic proximity to
the nearest community, and its domain overlap with the
nearest community all have
an inverted
The question addressed is
U-shaped relawhat predicts community
tionship with
community
revenue growth?
growth. These
non-monotonic
findings support the argument that organizational communities are interdependent and that they share both
mutualistic and competitive relationships, which in turn
have a significant impact on community growth. These
findings have both policy and managerial significance
which are developed in the paper.
“
”
FINANCE
Subprime Lending and the Housing
Bubble: Tail Wags Dog?
By Kerry Vandell, Major Coleman
IV (PhD student), and Michael
LaCour-Little (CSU Fullerton)
T H E C AU S E O F T H E “H O U S I N G
BU B B L E ” associated with the
sharp rise and then drop in home
prices over the period 1998–2008
has been the focus of significant
policy and research attention. The dramatic increase in
subprime lending during this period has been broadly
blamed for these market dynamics. In this paper we
empirically investigate the validity of this hypothesis vs.
several other alternative explanations. Results suggest
that prior to early 2004 economic fundamentals provide
the primary explanation for house price dynamics.
Subprime credit activity does not seem to have had much
impact on subsequent house price returns at any time
during the observation period, although there is strong
evidence of a price-boosting effect by investor loans
33
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
FACULTY INSIGHTS
FACULTY INSIGHTS
(non-owner occupied mortgages). The study does find
strong evidence that a credit regime shift took place in
late 2003, as the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were displaced in the market
by investment banks
Results suggest that and hedge funds as
originators and buyprior to early 2004
ers of new mortgage
products. Market funeconomic fundadamentals became
insignificant in affectmentals provide the
ing house price
primary explanation returns, and the
price-momentum
for house price
conditions characteristic of a ‘‘bubble”
dynamics.
were created. Thus,
rather than causing
the run-up in house prices, the subprime market may
well have been a joint product, along with house price
increases, (i.e., the ‘‘tail”) of the changing institutional,
political, and regulatory environment characteristic of the
period after late 2003 (the ‘‘dog”).
“
”
MARKETING
Digital Home Technologies and
Transformation of Household
By Alladi Venkatesh and Michael
LaCour-Little (CSU Fullerton)
examined in
this paper is whether and how contemporary home life is being
transformed with the arrival of
new digital technologies. As new
technologies diffuse into the home,
new terminology has begun to emerge as, for example,
in smart homes, home automation, digital home, digital
living, networked
home, home of
the future, smart
As new technologies
appliances and
so on. All of
diffuse into the home,
these technologinew terminology has
cal developments
seem to point to
begun to emerge...
a great sense of
anticipation that
T H E BAS I C I S S U E
“
34
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
”
home life, as we have understood in the past two or three
decades, will undergo some fundamental changes. It is
claimed that some of the changes may be the result of
advances at the technological frontier. Based on a twenty
year trajectory of theoretical and empirical work, this
paper will identify the triumphs and failures.
STRATEGY
Faculty Books
Merage faculty members share their knowledge and insights
through five recently published books.
KRISTIN BEHFAR
Stock Market Reaction to CEO
Certification: The Signaling Role
of CEO Background
By Margarethe Wiersema and
Anthea Zhang
of the
corporate scandals that started
with Enron and led to general
unrest in the financial markets,
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) required chief
executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers
(CFOs) of large publicly traded companies with revenues
greater than $1.2 billion to certify their financial statements by August 14th of 2002. Utilizing the SEC ruling
to define a natural experiment, this research investigates
the signaling role of the characteristics of the CEO to
investors. Since it is not possible to fully ascertain the
truthfulness of the firm’s financial statements from the
act of CEO certification, we utilize market signaling
theory to propose that attributes of the CEO send
important signals to the investment community as to the
credibility of the CEO certification and thus the quality of
the firm’s financial statements, which in turn impact the
stock market reaction to the CEO certification.
AS A D I R E C T R E S U LT
Assistant Professor of Organization and Management
Conflict in Organizational
Groups: New Directions in
Theory and Practice
Professor Behfar explores one of the
most commonly raised questions
about group conflict: Does conflict
further or threaten group goals in
organizations? This book integrates
and summarizes interdisciplinary findings on the most
current thinking about the impact of conflict on organizational groups and teams, including: team design, member
selection, managing team process, effective team leadership, and fostering norms of effective collaboration both
within and between groups. Each chapter presents cuttingedge advances in theory, methodology and challenges to
dominant perspectives in explaining which conditions
make conflict functional versus dysfunctional.
JOHN GRAHAM
Professor of Marketing and International Business
Together Again: A Creative
Guide to Successful
Multigenerational Living
Professor Graham and Sharon Graham
Niederhaus have published a particularly valuable resource for those in the
field of Intergenerational Relations. The
authors (siblings themselves) have
combined their expertise to produce a guide for families
and professionals who are dealing with multigenerational
households, e.g. living in a single home or living nearby.
They provide some helpful background and historical perspective since multigenerational living arrangements were
so common in earlier times. The authors note research
documenting the more than 6 million such living arrangements in the United States and provide an insightful analysis
of the rationale as well as issues that must be faced.
RICHARD MCKENZIE
Walter B. Gerken Professor of Enterprise and Society
Predictably Rational? In
Search of Defenses of
Rational Behavior in
Economics
In this book, Professor Richard
McKenzie takes on wide-ranging criticisms of the economists’ continued use
of the premise of “rational behavior” in
economic theories, given the mounting experimental evidence that people are “predictably irrational,” according
the behavioral economists and psychologists.
PETER NAVARRO
Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Always a Winner: Finding
Your Competitive
Advantage in an Up and
Down Economy
Most companies make a lot of
money during economic expansions
and lose a lot of money during
recessions. That is the way it has
always been. It need not always be that way.
Professor Navarro shows you how to “always be a winner” over the course of the entire business cycle – not
just when economic times are good. This book will arm
you with all the strategies, tactics and forecasting tools
you will need to profitably manage your organization
through the business cycle seasons-from the best of
boom times to the worst of recessionary times. Learn
how to strategically manage the business cycle, and create a powerful, competitive, sustainable advantage over
your rivals. Gain in-depth insight and practical knowledge
you will need to survive and thrive in the increasingly
risky conditions of the 21st century.
35
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
FACULTY INSIGHTS
JONE PEARCE
Dean’s Professor of Leadership
Organizational Behavior:
Real Research for Real
Managers
Professor Pearce draws on organizational behavior research to help
solve practical problems we face in
gaining mastery of organizations. It
clearly, honestly, and accurately conveys what the field of organizational
behavior can say to experienced managers, providing
applications and advice based in what systematic
research can tell us. It addresses real organizational challenges: How to Hire, Why Managers?, Working with
Feelings at Work, Managing Performance, Managing
Incentives, Navigating the Social Scene, Understanding
Culture, Mastering Power, and How to Fire and Retain.
Among other awards, this book received the Academy of
Management’s 2009 Practice-Relevant Scholarship Award
as the best translation of scholarship to practical tools.
FACULTY INSIGHTS
Merage
School
Faculty in
the News
O PE R AT I O N S M A N AG E M E N T
P RO F E S S O R R I C K S O has accepted
the
role of Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Program effective July 1, 2009, for
a renewable two year term. So oversees
the vision, strategy, curriculum and
academic matters for the undergraduate major and the
two undergraduate minors in the Merage School. In this
role, he works closely with the Area Coordinators, the
Undergraduate Programs Committee and Programs Office,
and the Dean’s Office. So also joins the Merage School’s
strategy team and serve on the Faculty Advisory
Committee in his new role as Associate Dean.
P RO F E S S O R M O RT PI N C U S is taking
a well-deserved sabbatical upon completion of his role as Associate Dean of the
Undergraduate Program. Pincus led the
development of the Merage School’s new
undergraduate major, which boasts the
highest freshman GPA on campus. Pincus also oversaw the
highly successful minor program which, at over 500
strong, constitutes one of the largest minors on campus,
again with excellent students.
A F T E R S E RV I N G A S T H E D I R E C TO R
of the PhD Program for three years,
Professor Alladi Venkatesh is now taking
a one-year sabbatical. Venkatesh has been
a passionate and able leader of the PhD
program and worked diligently to streamline many aspects of the program. He improved time-tograduation and placements, and worked with other academic
units on campus, such as Department of Statistics, School
of Social Sciences, and School of Social Ecology, to make
it easier for our students to take courses in these units.
Among his other initiatives, he started the Research Fest, a
day-long event attended by Merage School alumni, faculty,
students and community from other units on campus.
is the
Merage School’s new PhD Program
Director, starting July 1, 2009, for a
renewable two-year term. Keller received
her PhD from UCLA and has been at
UC Irvine since 1982. She is a renowned
researcher in the area of Decision Analysis, and has served
the School in a number of important roles, most recently
as the Associate Dean for the Full-Time MBA program.
Enthusiastic and passionate about the PhD program, with a
history of working with and helping our PhD students,
Keller will play a leading role as our school continues to
streamline and improve the PhD program.
P RO F E S S O R RO B I N K E L L E R
has
published an article in the MIT Sloan
Management Review titled, RecessionProofing Your Organization: Lessons
from the Crash. The article explores,
among other things, what managers and
organizations can do to anticipate downturns and mitigate
the worst effects of a recession.
P RO F E S S O R PE T E R N AVA R RO
is
the winner of the 2009 Pollay Prize at
the Sauder School of Business at the
University of British Columbia. She was
awarded this prize for intellectual excellence in research on marketing in the
public interest for her research titled, “Smokescreen:
Making sense of youth-geared messages about tobacco in
entertainment and advertising.”
Tobacco use remains a leading cause of death worldwide, and is driven in part by marketing. Young people in
particular have a window of vulnerability for initiating
smoking, which explains the public health push to close
that window through tobacco marketing restrictions.
Research by Pechmann examines youth-geared tobacco
marketing messages in advertising and entertainment –
and how youth respond to them. Her findings have helped
inform and change tobacco control policy in the United
States and Canada.
The endowment was established in 1992 to fund research
efforts in information and technology on organizations
and markets. It will enable Gurbaxani to further facilitate
collaboration between the Merage School and the extensive
IT and technology business community in and around
Orange County.
Gurbaxani is an accomplished professor with extensive
experience in management education and advisory services. He has lectured worldwide on management issues,
taught extensively in degree and executive education programs, consulted for and provided research expertise to
many organizations, and been a visiting scholar at the
business schools at Stanford University and at MIT.
P RO F E S S O R P H I L I P PE J O R I O N
received the Inaugural Progress Emerging
Manager Research Award from the
Journal of Investing for his article “The
Risk of Emerging Hedge Fund
Managers.” This award honors contributions to rigorous research on the quality and characteristics
of emerging managers. This article is co-authored with
Professor Rajesh Aggarwal of the University of Minnesota.
P RO F E S S O R CO N N I E PE C H M A N N
Professor of
Information Systems and Computer
Science and Director of the Center for
Research on IT and Organizations
(CRITO) was appointed Taco Bell
Endowed Professor at The Paul Merage
School of Business effective July 1, 2009. The appointment was made by Chancellor Michael V. Drake, MD.
V I J AY G U R B A X A N I ,
P RO F E S S O R K E N K R A E M E R received
the 2008 Association for Information
Systems (AIS) LEO award. This award
recognizes truly outstanding individuals
in the Information Systems community,
both academics and practitioners, who
have made exceptional contributions to research in and/or
the practice of Information Systems. Professor Kraemer is
the 18th person to receive the award out of an AIS membership of over 1500 academics.
the Dean’s
Professor in Strategic Management, has
accepted the role of associate editor for
the Strategic Management Journal
(SMJ), the premier academic journal in
the strategy discipline. The Strategic
Management Journal has been the official journal of the
Strategic Management Society since its inception in 1980
and is published 13 times per year by Wiley-Blackwell
Publishing. It is consistently rated one of the top publications in the management area. The SMJ promotes the
development and dissemination of advances in the field by
maintaining the highest standards of intellectual thought
combined with practical relevance.
M A RG A R E T H E W I E R S E M A ,
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e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
37
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION
A Practical
for Being Charitable
Merage School facilitates strategy to “do well” and to “do good” financially.
It is the deal of a lifetime.
Y
ou have an opportunity to make some financial
moves. While you’d like to support a Merage
School scholarship or research initiative, your
personal cash flow could use another income
source. It seems impossible to undertake both goals at
once. Or is it?
Instead of choosing between financial and philanthropic objectives, you could pursue both through one plan of
action. The charitable gift annuity (often referred to as
“the gift that pays back”) is an estate planning solution
offered by University Advancement. Put simply, the gift
initially operates as an income-producing investment.
After the donor has passed away, the remaining investment is donated automatically to the school.
Helping potential donors to navigate the giving process
is Director of Legacy Planning, Jay Donoghue. “A charitable gift annuity is a very attractive way for someone to
make a direct gift to the Merage School and also receive
a fixed amount of income during their lifetime.” As
Donoghue elaborates, the gift annuity offers highly desirable perks. “Charitable gift annuities are easy to create
[with a one-time contribution of $10,000 or more], provide attractive tax benefits in addition to reliable income,
and allow a donor to designate the gift portion of the
annuity to the specific program at UC Irvine they would
like to support.”
Selecting an Area of Influence
One of the most rewarding aspects of the gift annuity
process may be choosing a program, an exercise that is
judgment free. “Merage School donors have numerous
reasons for choosing
specific areas to supAt the end of the
port, and we are
always respectful of a
day, each gift will
donor's preferences,”
says Assistant Dean of
help shape the
External Relations,
Donna Mumford.
quality of educa“Whether a donor's
tion and research
goal is to support
scholarships, fellowwhile improving
ships, research or
other areas, there are
our community.”
many wonderful giving
opportunities at the
Merage School. At the end of the day, each gift will help
shape the quality of education and research while
improving our community.”
“
”
Performance Counts
Charitable aspects aside, the annuity is indeed a competitive income-producing source. With a rate of return
ranging between 5.0 and 9.5 percent, it performs generally slightly better than other life-income gifts, while
outpacing the current 2.78 percent average five-year CD
rate (www.Bankrate.com, 8/7/09). Moreover, unlike other
gift options, the annuity’s income payment receives favorable federal tax treatment, which boosts its effective
yield.
Getting to the Heart of the Matter
“What are my gifting options?” “How can my estate
benefit from my donation?” “What are the tax implications?” These questions are fielded regularly by the
Legacy Planning office during complimentary private
consultations offered to potential donors. The role of the
legacy planning process is not to push a particular plan
option but to “assist the donor with the fulfillment of
their specific wishes, goals and desires,” says Donoghue.
“The legacy planning process that we offer at UC Irvine
focuses on the donor and the primacy of their philanthropic interests and motivation.”
Acting as an impartial advisor is not new to Donoghue,
a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry. Prior
to joining University Advancement in May 2007,
Donoghue often provided strategic financial and estate
planning advice to high net worth individuals. This expertise comes in handy as he counsels potential UC Irvine
donors, even providing a customized analysis of the
annuity’s financial and tax implications.
The primary benefit of an in-person consultation is the
personal attention provided by Legacy Planning.
“Throughout our consultation with prospective donors
who are considering a planned or deferred gift, we try to
help them accomplish what would be meaningful to them
and address the specific issues and questions related to
executing a gift,” adds Donoghue.
Which program benefits have the greatest donor
appeal? Mumford provides this insight: “Primarily, donors
view a charitable gift annuity as a source of fixed income,
with earnings that will supplement retirement income,
enhance the value of an estate by potentially avoiding
estate taxes, and create significant tax savings. The flexibility of a gift annuity, particularly being able to choose
whether to receive income or direct it to a family member, is definitely appealing." Notably, an annuity may pay
the donor, spouse, parent or child.
While potential donors often contact Legacy Planning
with initial questions, giftlegacy.uci.edu is also a valuable
resource. It features an interactive tool (see box for
details) that illustrates an individual’s potential annuity
benefits and tax treatments. This quantitative analysis
estimates the degree to which a donor can “do well”
financially while “doing good.”
by Aurora Abt
Preview Your Customized
Analysis Online
You can build a customized illustration of potential
tax and financial benefits specific to your situation
at giftlegacy.uci.edu by following these simple
steps.
STEP 1: In the sidebar, choose “Create Your
Plan” and press the “Enter” button on
your keyboard.
STEP 2: On the new screen, under “Select a
Presentation,” choose “Gift Annuity.”
STEP 3: Provide the requested information.
Your personalized PowerPoint presentation will run
automatically with optional audio.
38
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
39
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
COLLABORATION
generosity
PAAMCO Provides Cause
for Celebration
Merage School Dean Andy Policano, with Experian’s Andrea Butz,
Geoff Bell, Business Information Services President Allen Anderson,
Group Presidents Ty Taylor and Mike DeVico and President and Chief
Operating Officer, Chris Callero
Executive Classrooms Named
in Honor of Experian
The Merage School commemorated a groundbreaking gift
from Experian with the dedication of two executive classrooms in the existing Merage School building on September
10, 2009. Experian’s gift of $550,000 is being applied
toward the new building campaign just recently underway
and two executive classrooms in that structure will be
named in Experian’s honor once it is complete.
“Experian believes that education is the cornerstone of
success, and investing in our future business leaders is the
responsibility of organizations and communities alike,”
said Chris Callero, president and chief operating officer
of Experian. “We are honored to be in a position to present
this gift to the Merage School and be a part of its future.”
More than a dozen Merage School alumni currently
employed at Experian were on hand to witness the dedication along with Experian President and Chief Operating
Officer, Chris Callero, Business Information Services
President Allen Anderson, Group Presidents Ty Taylor
and Mike DeVico. Dean Andy Policano presided over the
dedication and offered a champagne toast to Experian for
its gift.
A plaque installed in each of the executive classrooms
reads, “Within this classroom, our students and faculty
enjoy a superior learning environment made possible by
the commitment and dedication of one of Orange
County’s most generous corporate citizens. We gratefully
acknowledge Chris Callero and the leadership of Experian
for their visionary gift in support of this state-of-the-art
facility.”
Since news of the Living Building Campaign was first
presented to the business community in January 2009, the
Merage School has received pledges totaling $1.5 million.
The proposed new Merage School facility will be the first
new business school building built since 1989.
Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company
(PAAMCO) has joined the Merage School’s Living Building
Campaign with a pledge of $500,000.
“We believe so strongly in the importance of this business
school that we did not hesitate to show our commitment,”
Jane Buchan, CEO of PAAMCO, said. “This school and its
programs are an integral part of our business community and it is in all our best interests to ensure its continued
growth and success.”
In recognition of its generous contribution, the PAAMCO
name will be featured prominently in the new building.
Marriott’s Ed Fuller First to
Commit to New Building
Campaign
Ed Fuller, president and managing
director of Marriott International
Lodging, and chair of the Merage
School’s Dean’s Advisory Board, set
the pace for the School’s new Living
Building campaign early in 2009 with a pledge of $100,000.
“Ed’s support is further testament to the value our
business partners, alumni and students place on the
Merage School and the business leaders we develop,” said
Dean Andy Policano.
Deloitte Strengthens
Alliance with Merage School
Deloitte Managing Partner Rob Lucenti joined Dean Andy
Policano and Merage School faculty and staff at Deloitte’s
Costa Mesa office for a presentation and reception celebrating the positive impact the partnership has made on
both organizations and the
community. Merage School
alumnus Rich Milo, principal of
Deloitte’s Enterprise Risk
Services, co-hosted the event
joined by other Merage School
alumni from Deloitte; nearly 100
work within the Deloitte family
of businesses worldwide.
COLLABORATION
BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION
Show Me the Money
By Robert Preer
an 18-year-old
freshman, had been on the UC Irvine
campus only a few weeks when he
decided to enter the Merage School’s
Business Plan Competition, managed by the Don Beall Center for
Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Center Administrative Director
Charlie Baecker first advised the
aspiring entrepreneur and economics
major to attend the Center’s “Matrix
Mixers.” These informal gatherings
bring together business students
and graduate students in technical
fields to form teams for the competition, which awards $30,000 in
prizes and a shot at up to a million
dollars in private investment.
At a Matrix Mixer, Isaac met computer science graduate student Le
Nguyen Tran, who had developed a
high-speed, super-efficient microprocessor. Isaac and Tran formed a
team and developed a business plan.
They made the first cut when judges
trimmed the 90-team field to 20.
After enhancing their business
plan and patenting Tran’s invention,
they competed again in May and
were selected as one of only three
teams to pitch their idea to the
Tech Coast Angels, a large southern
California venture capital network
prepared to invest up to a million
dollars in projects from the competition.
Isaac and Tran will learn in
January 2010 whether they won. In
the meantime, they are refining
their business plan and meeting
with a Tech Coast Angels coach.
“Our hope ideally is to compete
with companies like Intel and
Advanced Micro Devices,” said
S H AW N I S AAC ,
Isaac. “As far-fetched as that may
sound, everything starts from a
dream. That's something Mr. Baecker
and the Beall Center taught us.”
Nurturing entrepreneurs and their
dreams has been the mission of the
Beall Center for Innovation and
Entrepreneurship since its founding
in 2003. Through the business plan
competition and other programs,
the Center has become a strong
presence both on the UC Irvine
campus and in the Orange County
business community.
“For us to sit in the ivory tower,
so to speak, and ruminate about
innovation won't cut it,” says
Baecker, a veteran entrepreneur
himself. “We really need to be out
there working with people who are
doing innovation.”
The Business Plan Competition is
the Center's signature program,
drawing 500 or more students every
fall. The Center also organizes frequent workshops and luncheons
and runs programs like Innovation@
Merage. “It’s a clearinghouse for all
things innovation,” says Associate
Director Christine Beckman, the
Center's faculty co-director.
“We always emphasize inclusiveness,” says Shaheen Husain, the
Center's first director and now head
of Corporate Relations for the
Merage School. “We will show anyone who wants to become an
entrepreneur the steps to succeed.
We have undergraduates, community
people, and graduate students from
across the campus.”
Aided by Don Beall’s $6.6 million
endowment of the Center, Baecker
continues to expand the Center’s
offerings. The business plan competition got a boost two years ago
when venture capitalists with substantial investment resources
started reviewing the winners.
A contest winner two years ago,
Bone-Rad Therapeutics, Inc., has
gone forward from competition to
real world. The company's innovative spinal cancer treatment is now
in FDA testing.
Administrative Director Charlie Baecker,
shares his innovative insight with up-andcoming entrepreneurs during 2009
Business Plan Competition Kick-Off.
“To date this is the best experience of my MBA program,” says
Aaron Samson, a second year MBA
student and member of a five-person team that finished near the top
in the most recent competition. “I
learned more from this and worked
harder on it than any project or
class at school.”
According to Baecker, all who
enter the competition learn valuable
lessons. In four months, students
go through all the steps required to
start a business.
“It's like taking a drink from a fire
hose,” Baecker says. “But we manage to make it work.”
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COLLABORATION
CFA Institute
Partnership
Gives
Students an
Advantage
By Robert Preer
COLLABORATION
Center News
I N T H E S U M M E R O F 2 0 0 8 , Todd Richey, lecturer at the Center for Investment and
Wealth Management, began talks with CFA Institute on establishing a partnership
between the organization for investment professionals and The Paul Merage School
of Business.
For the Merage School, there was much to gain. The School could coordinate its
curriculum with the association’s Chartered Financial Analyst exam, a rigorous graduate-level certification program; it would have access to the association’s research
and publications; and it would gain prestige from a relationship with one of the
business world’s most influential professional organizations.
Richey discussed the possibility with finance Professor Nai-fu Chen and Dean
Andy Policano, both of whom encouraged him to pursue the matter. For the next 12
months, Richey worked with the Charlottesville, Virginia-based CFA Institute, going
over the School’s curriculum and possible adjustments to meet CFA Program
Partner standards. He worked with the finance faculty and others at the Center for
Investment and Wealth Management to find ways to adapt courses.
This past summer, Richey got word that the CFA Institute had officially accepted
the Merage School as a CFA Program Partner. The School is one of only 103 educational institutions worldwide and the second in the western states with this distinction.
“The CFA certification has always been viewed as the gold standard,” says
Richey. “This shows that our students with a finance focus will be well prepared
when they graduate and are out looking for a job. It means we can attract high
quality MBA students.”
Bob McLean, CFA, head of university relations for CFA Institute, worked closely
with Richey during the partnership talks. He said the arrangement is a credit to the
Merage School.
“Becoming a CFA Program Partner demonstrates to potential students and
employers UC Irvine’s commitment to maintaining high standards in professional
education and ethics,” McLean said. “As a CFA Program Partner, UC Irvine joins a
small number of high-profile institutions around the world.”
“A lot of corporations in the finance arena as well as wealth management and
financial analyst positions either require the CFA designation or will require individuals they hire to start working on it,” Richey says. “As a CFA Program Partner with
coordinated curriculum, Merage School can better prepare students to take the CFA
exam.”
“You are never better prepared to take the CFA examination than you are right
out of business school,” says Marla L. Harkness, CFA, co-director of wealth management for Pacific Income Advisers of Santa Monica. Harkness, a past CFA
Institute Presidents Council Representative for the western United States, worked
with Richey to develop plans for the partnership.
“There is no doubt that the designation is required for jobs in investment management and securities analysis – for both stocks and bonds – and increasingly for
jobs in investor relations or with hedge funds,” Harkness says.
Max Brunner received his MBA from the Merage School this spring, and he
obtained his CFA certification about the same time. Doing both simultaneously had
its advantages, he believes.
“I really thought it was a good mix,” Brunner says. “The MBA classes were broad
and often involved interaction with companies in the Orange County area. The CFA
Program work helped to solidify some of the concepts we were learning in the classes.”
Brunner thinks the curriculum will benefit from the partnership. “Macroeconomics
from the CFA perspective can be a little different from an MBA professor’s take on
it. I think a program that combines elements of both will be good.”
The Bottom of the
Pyramid Takes
Center Stage
of
the Pyramid (BoP) in fact a realistic
market or development strategy? How
does the current economic climate
influence the BoP approach? Are
particular types of services better
suited to delivering value and development services? Where do the
opportunities lie? These questions
and more were the focus of the
“Bottom of the Pyramid in Practice”
conference, co-sponsored by the
Merage School’s Center for Research
on Information Technology and
Organizations (CRITO).
I S TA RG E T I N G T H E B OT TO M
Speakers included representatives
from the Gates Foundation,
Microsoft Research, Intel
Corporation, Nokia, London School
of Economics, UC Berkeley,
Queensland University, and of
course, UC Irvine.
Notably, Merage School Professor
Dr. Vijay Gurbaxani, Director of
CRITO, served on the closing discussant panel with distinguished
experts Paul Thomas, Intel’s Chief
Economist, and Mohammed
Mohammed of the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation.
Gurbaxani emphasized his own
ethos as a former Indian national
who knew about community-based
technologies and the bottom of the
pyramid from personal experience
growing up in Bombay (Mumbai).
He described how business model
innovation creates new means of
value creation and that IT-led innovation is often an integral part of the
solution. Samantha Cross, a newly
minted PhD in Marketing from The
Paul Merage School of Business,
served as a moderator for the discussion surrounding consumption and
emerging markets in the BoP.
Money Matters
compels
those responsible for the investment
and management of other people’s
wealth to embrace innovation in
order to sustain profitable, socially
responsible growth in their organizations. The Merage School’s Center
for Investment and Wealth
Management (CIWM) is at the
heart of this focus.
A vehicle to connect the community, the university, and investment
and wealth management professionals, the Center has experienced
phenomenal growth. Faculty, MBA
students and professionals in the
community are supported by an
Advisory Board of well-respected
business leaders from financial institutions, investment companies, law
firms, accounting firms and wealth
management companies in Orange
County and beyond.
Over the past three and half years,
the Center has become a leading
resource for innovative programs that
enhance and spotlight the fields of
investment and wealth management.
Through the commitment and generosity of the members, the Center
has raised more than $2.2 million to
provide innovative research and education. A target of $3 million has
been set for the 2009-2010 year to
support new initiatives including:
TO D AY ’ S E CO N O M Y
CFA Institute partnership
A new multi-day conference similar
to those held by Wharton, Chicago
and Stanford
Continuing Education programs
After Market Salon offering CE
credit
Faculty-developed series of best
practice case studies
CIWM quarterly luncheons
The Center is co-chaired by Rick
Keller, CEO of First Foundation
Investment Management, and
GenSpring’s southern California
President, Pat Soldano.
The combination of a widely
acclaimed university and business
school with the expertise of the
professional wealth management
community from one of the wealthiest
areas in the world provides an unparalleled opportunity to develop a
Center that will stand alone as truly
distinctive. For more information,
visit merage.uci.edu/go/CIWM.
New Leader for
Leadership Center
ANNA LIZA
G A RC I A has
been
named Associate
Director for the
Center for Leadership and Team
Development
at the Merage
School. With a masters in education
and counseling from UCLA and currently enrolled in the PhD program
in education at USC, Garcia’s background is leadership and education.
She was most recently Associate
Director and International Exchange
Coordinator in the MBA program
office at USC. She also served as
Director of the Students Center for
Professional Development at Cal State
Long Beach.
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COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION
P
R
O
S
P
E
R
I
T
A
S
Quadruples Membership in Second Year
Business leaders, philanthropists and social entrepreneurs have come together to ignite ideas,
create connections and raise awareness about critical topics of the times.
By Mary Patrick
a group of
successful leaders, philanthropists and entrepreneurs
meeting semimonthly at the Merage School, experienced
such a sharp rise in 2009/2010 that it was necessary to
start a waiting list. Executive Director Mary Patrick attributes the wave of new interest to a variety of factors, most
importantly, a hunger for camaraderie and debate regarding key social, political, and scientific issues challenging
the local, national and global economy.
Patrick commented, “The group exists to fill a clear
need that individuals have to come together and face the
enormous challenges of our world in a community of
proven problem-solving professionals. There is obviously
a need in the business community for the kind of relevant
conversation and action-oriented ideas that lead to
informed decisions and positive change.” She adds, “Our
salon-like setting closely connects our members to the
thought-leaders available through UC Irvine’s Paul
Merage School of Business and members’ personal networks, and it has proven enormously popular.”
M E M B E R S H I P L E V E L S AT P RO S P E R I TAS ,
“It is exciting to see the growth of this innovative
organization,” said Jone L. Pearce, Dean’s Professor of
Leadership at the Merage School. “Clearly, there is great
interest among business leaders in learning how to make
their philanthropy more effective. The rapid growth of
Prosperitas shows that the School has developed a vehicle
that helps those who want to make a difference to do so.”
The name Prosperitas is the Latin term for “hope” and
“success.” Founded by UC Irvine Alumnus Frank
Kavanaugh, the group was originally designed to be a
forum for high net-worth individuals to band together to
examine how best to put resources to use personally,
politically, and philanthropically. After completing its first
year, the program was retooled to be more inclusive of
the larger business community, which was accomplished
by shortening the meetings, adjusting the membership
fee, and creating more frequent networking and idea
exchanges. Proceeds from the group will underwrite a
new microfinance loan fund that is intended to offer support to the growth and success of innovative, sustainable,
and socially relevant businesses launched by Merage
School students and other UC Irvine community members.
“My aim is to present a variety of diverse topics and
opinions so that it’s not a group of people sitting around
agreeing with one another,” said Kavanaugh. “We listen to
people who are developing new ways of solving old problems. Inviting a cross section of the community to get
insight from some of the Merage School’s top thoughtleaders offers us fresh, creative perspectives for debate.
Now more than ever it’s apparent that the secret to survival
and success requires remaining focused and optimistic,
informed and connected. This group offers up an environment to make that happen,” Kavanaugh concluded.
The 2009-2010 Prosperitas program features twicemonthly lunch meetings in salon-like settings where
members can exchange ideas with thought-leaders and
peers. Some of the scheduled topics include the
California economy, stem-cell research, bioethics, biomimicry, climate change, aging and memory, and global
investment opportunities. The group is organizing a June
Idea Incubator that will be open to the public. For more
information, visit merage.uci.edu/go/prosperitas.
P RO F E S S O R KE R RY D. VAN D E L L ,
director of the Center for Real
Estate, discusses real estate and
how the “Housing after the Fall:
Reassessing the Future of the
American Dream” symposium can
benefit the new administration.
CRE Fast Becoming Beacon
for Real Estate Industry
I
n just four short years, the
Merage School’s Center for
Real Estate has gone from an
exciting new idea to a fullfledged Center of Excellence.
Ranked among southern
California’s Top Business Schools
with a Real Estate focus in US
World News & Report, the Center’s
mission is to advance real estate
knowledge and engage in activities
that promote teaching, research
and industry outreach.
“The Center’s strong partnership
with students, faculty, practitioners
and the community at large have
enabled it to advance our knowledge base as well as “bridge”
theory with practice. We have also
instituted some really outstanding
programming that trains students
to contribute to the real world and
shapes leaders for the new global
community,” said Professor Kerry
Vandell, director of the Center for
Real Estate.
Vandell was recruited in 2006 to
build the Center’s infrastructure and
establish the School’s research program and real estate specialization,
which now includes a selection of
seven real estate courses within the
MBA curriculum. Since joining the
Merage School, Vandell has made
an impressive impact. In addition to
creating the infrastructure to support the burgeoning program,
Vandell appointed Sharon
Nakamura-Brown as associate
director of the Center to oversee its
growing operations.
Among the Center’s various
activities and programs is a newlyestablished research program that
has garnered national attention,
most recently through its “Housing
After the Fall: Reassessing the
American Dream” symposium.
Analysis from the symposium,
sponsored by the MacArthur and
Rockefeller Foundations, provides
policy guidance to Congress and
the Obama Administration to aid
the recovery of the housing and
mortgage markets.
The Center produces and sponsors
over 20 events over the academic
year which serve students, alumni,
researchers and the industry. Its
widely acclaimed industry-focused
programs include the Real Estate
Gala and Awards Celebration,
Breakfast Series, Annual Spring
Board Meeting & Symposium, and
the Distinguished Executive in
Residence program.
The Center has also launched an
initial marketing and communications program, has helped launch
the UC Irvine Real Estate Alumni
Group and sponsors the Merage
Real Estate Association.
For more information, visit
merage.uci.edu/go/cre.
Q: What is the state of the U.S.
housing and mortgage markets?
A: These markets have not been this
bad since the Great Depression in
terms of property value declines
and the disruption of money flow
into the mortgage markets. There
were several periods of regional
problems (including in southern
California and the northeast) where
credit was tightened because of
increased risk of loan default, but
nothing of the magnitude we have
seen today (mid 2009).
Q: Why is it important for the housing
and mortgage markets to recover?
A: We have seen a decline in the
values of many types of assets,
including houses. It is absolutely
necessary that the housing market
recover because it is such an important part of the economy. We must
seek to re-establish a balance that
helps keep consumer consumption
at sustainable levels and prices
mortgage credit properly.
Q: How can the symposium, along
with UCI research, make an impact?
A: Many of the topics we study at
the Center, such as mortgage availability and urban development, are
relevant to future policies that could
emerge in light of the economic situation. We have a unique opportunity
to conduct sound academic research
that could have a direct impact on
public policy and make a measurable
difference. It is not often you are presented with a situation that is of such
importance and in need of immediate
help. This is one of those times.
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2009 – 2010
COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION
Thank you!
A sincere “thank you” from the faculty, staff and students
of The Paul Merage School of Business
to our many supporters and donors. The community and business leaders listed below have helped to
launch the School’s Centers of Excellence and other important initiatives, and have devoted energy, talent
and wisdom to the Merage School.
As always, a special thanks to Paul and Lilly Merage for their tremendous and tireless efforts on our behalf.
Dean’s Advisory Board
Ed Fuller, Chair – Marriott
International Lodging
David Murphy, Vice Chair – Barrie
D'Rozario Murphy
Pamela Adams ‘98 – Wells Fargo
Advisors
Richard Afable – Hoag Memorial
Hospital Presbyterian
Mike Aghajanian ‘88 – PRTM
Robert Anderson – Health Savings
Technology
Craig Barbarosh – Pillsbury Winthrop
Shaw Pittman LLP
Donald Beall – Dartbrook Partners,
LLC
John Belli – Ernst & Young
Eric Boden, retired – HireRight
Jane Buchan – Pacific Alternative
Asset Management Co.
Christopher Callero – Experian
Americas
Joel Calvo – Calvo Capital
James Caudill – Black & Decker
Bruce Chapman
Victoria Collins – First Foundation
Investment Management
Michael Davis – Deutsche Bank
National Trust Company, Private
Wealth Management
Dwight Decker – Conexant
John Della Gotta – Forum for
Corporate Directors
Tommy Dodson – Rockwell Collins
Rick Dutta – Nexvisionix
William Ellermeyer – Emeritus –
The Ellermeyer Company
Larry Emond – The Gallup
Organization
John Evans – Wells Fargo, Private
Client Services
William Ficker – Emeritus –
The Ficker Group
Thomas Gephart – Ventana
Richard Gilchrist – The Irvine
Company
William Halford – Bixby Land
Company
Cynthia Harriss – Formerly
Disneyland Resort &
Gap Brand North America
Julie Hill – Chair Emeritus –
Boardmember, WellPoint, The Lord
Abbett Mutual Funds, Lend Lease
Jeanne Jackson – Nike
Camille Jayne – Matters at Hand
Alan Kaye – Mattel, Inc.
Rick Keller – First Foundation
Investment Management
Parker Kennedy – The First American
Corporation
Darcy Kopcho ‘80 – Capital Research
and Management
Knute Kurtz – PricewaterhouseCoopers
Greg Lai – Morgan Stanley
General Leon J. LaPorte – U.S. Army,
retired
Marc Levin – Levin Capital
Management
Robert Lucenti – Deloitte
Stephen Marlow – Toshiba America
Electronic Components, Inc.
Chuck Martin – Chair Emeritus –
Mont Pelerin Capital
James Mazzo – Abbott Medical Optics
James Mellor – USEC, Inc.
Paul Merage – Chair Emeritus –
Falcon Investment Management
Mark Moehlman – Wealth
Management Network
Eddie Northen – UPS
Edmund Olivier – Oxford Bioscience
Partners
James O'Sullivan – Mazda North
American Operations
John Parker – Parker Properties
Sue Parks – WalkStyles, Inc.
Daryl Pelc – Boeing Company
Bill Pesch – McBride Electric, Inc.
Jim Peterson – Microsemi Corp.
David Pyott – Allergan
Richard Reisman – Orange County
Business Journal
David Schramm – Maxwell
Technologies
Glenn Schrank – HireRight
Alan Sellers – SAIL Venture Partners
Ariela Shani – Neiman Marcus
Peter Shea – J.F. Shea Company, Inc.
Richard Shields – Oakley, Inc.
Ronald Simon – RSI Holding Corp.
Patricia Soldano – GenSpring Family
Offices
Greg Spierkel – Ingram Micro, Inc.
Dennis Sweeney – Emeritus –
Newport Consulting Partners
Ariela Tannenbaum '95 – Allianz
Global Investors
Peter Ueberroth – The Contrarian
Group, Inc.
Tom Wagner ‘89 – Taco Bell –
YUM! Brands, Inc
Bob Waltos – The Waltos Group
Dean Yoost –
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Hoby Darling, Vice President of
Strategic Development – Volcom
Christine Darragh, Divisional Vice
President, Human Resources –
Abbott Medical Optics, Inc.
Larry Emond, Chief Marketing
Officer – Gallup Consulting, Inc.
John Evans, Sr. Vice President,
Regional Manager – Wells Fargo
Bank
Christopher Fawcett, Vice President –
Sony Electronics Inc.
Giovanni Gigliotti, Site Location
Executive IBM Corporation
Richard Grabowski, Managing Partner
– Jones Day
Knute Kurtz, Office Managing Partner
– PricewaterhouseCoopers
Steve Lewis, Owner – Steelhead
Brewery Co.
Stephen Marlow, Executive Vice
President – Toshiba America
Electronic Components, Inc.
Michael McCole, Product Marketing
Manager – Sony Electronics Inc.
Bill Nutini, Vice President, Sales –
Toshiba America Electronic
Components, Inc.
James O’Sullivan, President & CEO –
Mazda North America Operations
Daryl Pelc, Vice President Engineering
& Technology Advanced Systems –
Boeing Company – Space Station
Catherine Pendleton, Director of
Global Staffing & Recruiting –
Beckman Coulter, Inc.
James Peterson, President & Chief
Executive Officer – Microsemi
Parsa Rohani, CEO – Neudesic
Ken Rohl, Founder – Rohl, LLC
Lester Savit, Partner – Jones Day
Glenn Schrank, President & CEO –
HireRight
Vivian Soren-Myers, Internal
Consultant – Pacific Alternative
Asset Management Company
(PAAMCO)
Stacy Stachniak, Human Resources
Manager – Toyota Material
Handling U.S.A.
Joe Sweet, Sr. Vice President,
Regional Director – Union Bank
Edmond Thomas, President and
Chief Executive Officer – The Wet
Seal, Inc.
Tom Wagner, Vice President,
Consumer Insights & Brand
Planning – Taco Bell Corporation
Melissa Ward, Director, Marketing
Corporate Partners
Drew Aron, Director, Advisory –
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Debra Barrow, Human Resources
Manager – Rauxa Direct
Kenneth Beall, Managing Member –
Dartbrook Partners
Jeff Benck, Executive Vice President
& COO – Emulex Corporation
Darwin Chen, Director, Global Flash
Operations – Kingston Technology
Company, Inc.
Andy Corley, Corporate Vice
President and Global President –
Bausch & Lomb Americas,
Surgical Products
Christopher Coulter, MD, Chief
Medical Officer – The Precept
Group
Doug Cunningham, Past Office
Managing Partner – Accenture
Center for Real Estate
Lawrence Armstrong – Ware Malcomb
Ken Beall – The Beall Family
Foundation
Philip Belling – LBA Realty
Eric Bergstrom – Bergstrom Capital
Advisors
Brandon Birtcher – Birtcher
Development & Investments, LLC
Robert Brunswick – Buchanan Street
Partners
Robert Campbell – CT Realty Corp.
Lawrence Casey – Donahue Schriber
Realty Group
Paul Cate – Mark IV Capital, Inc.
Rachid Chamtieh – Deloitte
David DePillo
Roger DeWames – Hines
Celina Doka – KPMG, LLP
Ranney Draper – The Draper Family
Foundation
Greg Edwards – Rancho Mission Viejo
Company
Steve Elieff – Suncal Companies
Rodney Emery – Steadfast Companies
John French – Ernst & Young
Walter Frome
Cynthia Fusco – NAIOP SoCal
John Garrett – Garrett DeFrenza
Stiepel, LLC
James Gianulias – Cameo Homes
Stephen Gordon
Emile and Dina Haddad – Lennar
John Hagestad – SARES•REGIS Group
William Halford – Bixby Land Co.
Robert M. Hamilton – Allen Matkins
Bobby Hatfield – Fidelity National Title
Greg Herder ‘05 – Hobbs Herder
Advertising
Julie Hill – The Hill Company
Barry Hoeven – US Storage
Center/Westport Properties
Mark Hoover – First American Title
Insurance
Mark Kehke ‘93 – DMB Associates
Parker Kennedy – First American Title
Insurance
David Kim – The Bascom Group
Peter and Valerie Kompaniez – AIMCO
John Lutzius and Alison Cohen
Adam Markman – Green Street Advisors
Bill and Romy McFarland – The Street
Companies
Kevin McKenzie – Palisades Equity
Partners
Gary S. McKitterick – Allen Matkins
Carl F. McLarand – McLarand
Vasquez Emsiek & Partners
Doug Meece – Merrill Lynch
Greg Merage – Stoneridge Capital
Partners
Michael L. Meyer – AMG Realty
Investors, LLC
Anne Marie Moiso ‘00 – Rancho
Mission Viejo Company
Jeffrey Moore – CB Richard Ellis
John Murphy – Luce, Forward,
Hamilton, and Scripps
Douglas O’Donnell – O'Donnell Group
John B. Parker – Parker Properties
Gerald N. Pharris – Pharris
Properties
Tony Premer – Pacific Life Insurance
Company
Christine Scheuneman – Pillsbury
Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP
Royce Sharf – Studley
Peter Shea – J.F. Shea Company, Inc.
Tom Sherlock – NAIOP SoCal
John Simonis – Paul, Hastings,
Janofsky & Walker
Justin Smith – Lee & Associates
Timothy Strader – Starpointe
Ventures
Steve Swerdlow – CB Richard Ellis
Ray Watson – The Irvine Company
Bill Williams – Creative Wealth
Strategies Williams Group, Inc.
Warren W. Williams, Jr. – Silver Oak
Development
Bill Witte – The Related Companies of
California, Inc.
Judy Woolen – KB Homes
Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Dick Allen – DIMA Ventures
Allen Anderson – Experian
Mark Averitt – Okapi Venture Capital
Chris Baclawski – CB Capital
Don Beall – Dartbrook Partners
Bob Bova – Vangard Voice Systems
John Brandt – ThyssenKrupp Elevator
Joel Calvo – Calvo Capital
Ray Cohen – Symphony Med
John Creelman ‘89 – PowerGenix
Joe Davis – Triton Pacific Capital
Partners
Bruce Feuchter – Stradling Yocca
Carlson & Rauth
Neel Grover – buy.com
Bruce Hallett – Miramar Venture
Partners
James Houlihan – InnoCal
Robert Hovee – World Am
Larry Jordan – Tech Coast Angels
Michael Kaye – Clearlight Partners
Marc Levin – Levin Capital
Management
Mike Mata – SCORE, Orange County
Sid Mohasseb – Tech Coast Angels
Sue Parks – WalkStyles, Inc.
David Pyott – Allergan
Safi Qureshey – Skyline Capital
Partners
Ken Rohl – Rohl LLC
Stanton Rowe – Edwards Lifesciences
Alan Sellers – SAIL Venture Partners
Luis Villalobos – Tech Coast Angels
Frank Kavanaugh – Prosperitas
Rick Keller – Keller Group Investment
Management
Darcy Kopcho – Capital Research Co.
Jim Leese – Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo
Chuck Martin – Mont Pelerin Capital
Glenn Mehner – D&M Capital
Management
Richard Merage – Falcon Investment
Group
Mark Moehlman – Wealth
Management Network
Corinne Myre – Sweek Connolly & Co.
Brenda O'Leary – Payden & Rygel
Jim Olmore – Fidelity Investments
Mary Patrick – Prosperitas
Gregory Pellizzon – Hollencrest
Capital Management
Melissa Pollard – Comerica Bank
Monica Rebella – CalCPA
Todd Richey – UC Irvine
Dave Roberson – TRC Financial
Tom Rogers – City National Bank
Brian Rush – CalCPA
Todd Rustman – GR Capital
Michael Schulman – Hollencrest
Capital Management
Mike Silvio – CBIZ
Patricia Soldano – GenSpring Family
Offices
Joe Volz – Merrill Lynch
Bob Waltos – The Waltos Group of
Northwestern Mutual
Darren Whissen – Select Portfolio
Management
Joe Yerosek – Comerica Bank
Joyce Munsell
Janet Newport – Public Affairs
Dimensions
Gordon K. Norman, MD, MBA – Alere
Medical, Inc.
Joel Portice – Enclarity
Murray N. Ross, PhD – Kaiser
Permanente Institute for Health
Policy
Elizabeth Russell – SCAN Health Plan
Maribeth Shannon – California
HealthCare Foundation
David L. Steffy
Michael D. Stephens – Hoag
Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
David L. Tsoong, MD – Pinnacle
Senior Care
Betty K. Tu, MD, MBA ‘99 – Pinnacle
Senior Care
Tammy Tucker – Anthem Blue Cross
Paul S. Viviano – Alliance Imaging
Bud Volberding – Avalon Healthcare
Consulting
Laurence D. Wellikson, MD –
FACPSociety of Hospital Medicine
Maureen L. Zehntner – UCI Medical
Center
Center for Investment and Wealth Management
Pamela Adams – Wells Fargo Advisors
Laine Ainsworth – Wealth
Management Network
Al Beimfohr – Knightsbridge Asset
Management
Jim Berens – PAAMCO
Steve Borowski – Metropolitan West
Asset Management
Greg Brown – Payden Rygel
Matt Brown – Brown & Streza
Michael Cancelleri – Mont Pelerin
Capital
Nai-fu Chen – The Paul Merage
School of Business
Victoria Collins – The Keller Group
Leo Connolly – Sweek Connolly & Co.
Kelli Cruz – Charles Schwab
Michael Duckworth – D&M Capital
Management Inc.
Kimberly Dwan Bernatz – First
American Trust
Kate Eder – The Waltos Group
Lupe Erwin – Wood Gutmann & Bogart
Shannon Eusey – Beacon Pointe
Advisors
Robert Evans – Fidelity Investments
Carla Furuno – City National Bank
Thomas Hopper – BNY Mellon
Camille Jayne – Matters at Hand
David Jochim – Union Bank of
California
Dave Jones – Select Portfolio
Management
Irving Katz – Business and Estate
Planning
Center for Health Care Management and Policy
Richard F. Afable, MD, MPH – Hoag
Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
Terry Belmont – UCI Medical Center
Robert Beltran, MD, MBA ‘99 –
Monarch HealthCare
James E. Bova – Deloitte
Richard Chambers – CalOptima
Jay J. Cohen, MD, MBA – Monarch
HealthCare
Christopher H. Coulter, MD – The
Precept Group
Markie Cowley – Mission Hospital
Regional Medical Center
Chris De Rosa ‘00 – CIGNA Health
Care of California
Wendy Dorchester, PhD – Long Beach
Memorial
James Elliott – Blue Shield of
California
Nick Franklin, JD – Public Affairs
Dimensions
Alan Hoops – Caremore
Patrick E. Kapsner – Bristol Park
Medical Group
Dale L. Macrae – Aon Consulting
Jeffrey H. Margolis – The TriZetto
Group
Gerald A. McCall – Kaiser
Permanente
Christine Metz – Welvie
46
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Merage
|
2009 – 2010
COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION
Dean’s Leadership Circle
Your Network for Success
L
aunched in 2005 in conjunction with the
announcement of the $30 million naming gift to
UC Irvine’s business school from Paul and Lilly
Merage, the Dean’s Leadership Circle (DLC) was
designed to engage alumni and members of the business
community in a much closer relationship with the School.
Now, more than four years later, Dean Policano confidently says “due to the significant support and dedication
of mostly Merage School alumni and, in particular, a small
group of highly committed founding and executive committee members, the DLC has been successful beyond
our fondest hopes.”
Thanks to the leadership of Executive Committee members, the DLC has:
helped raise more than $1.5 million in total support for
the Merage School
provided high-level networking opportunities yielding
business and career opportunities for its members
added a very rewarding and active circle of alumni and
business leaders to the Orange County landscape
2008-2009
Executive Committee Members
Gregory R. Lai, ‘88, 20082009 Chair, Campaign Leader
Greg Queen, ‘03, Past CoChair, Events Committee
Ken Neeld, ‘07, Co-Chair,
Marketing Committee
Thomas Antunez, ’05, Member
at Large, FEMBA Liaison
Pamela Adams, ‘98,
Founding Chair, Co-Chair,
Membership Committee
Sam King, ‘00, Co-Chair,
Membership Committee
Kristen McAlister, ‘03, CoChair Marketing Committee
William Rowland, ’06,
Member at Large, Marketing
Committee
Paula Milano, ‘80, Past Chair
& Co-Chair, Events Committee
Kyle van Hoften, ‘97, Member
at Large, Marketing Committee
Katie Bianchi, ‘96, Member
at Large, FEMBA Liaison
Wolfgang Beez, ‘01, Member
at Large, Marketing Committee
Sandra Findly, Director
The Dean’s Leadership Circle Endowed Professorship Campaign
The Endowed Professorship Campaign began at the start of fiscal year 2007, with the goal of $1 million
exclusively to create this professorship. The group is close to reaching the goal and thirteen (as of press time)
members have helped the campaign get ahead by stepping up and making a 5-year pledge which is known as
“Visionary-level” membership.
Visionary Members
Gregory R. Lai ‘88, 2008-2009 Chair &
Campaign Leader
Michael Aghajanian ‘89
Thomas Antunez ‘05
William Rowland, ‘06
Pamela Adams ‘98, Founding Chair
Len Ambrosini ‘02
Tallia Hart, Irvine Chamber of
Commerce Board of Directors
Paula Milano ‘80, Past Chair & Co-Chair
Amy Tan ‘06 & Mark Tran ‘08
Johnson Chuang ‘05
Mark ‘84 & Lisa Locklear ‘84
Kristen Monson ‘86
David Young ‘90
Become a member today and help make a difference.
The Dean’s Leadership Circle offers a year-long calendar of exclusive member events. Each fall kicks off with
the Annual Insider’s View held at a member’s private
home and offers conversation with the Dean about the
current state of the School. The Distinguished Speaker
Series and VIP Reception with each of the featured
speakers is always a highlight. The Holiday Celebration at
year end has become known for offering unique venues
and a very festive atmosphere for members and spouses.
Past years’ events have taken place at interesting locations such as Neiman Marcus Gift Shop in Fashion Island,
The Tides luxury residences in Crystal Cove, and gathering at the home of a member to watch the Newport Boat
parade. Consider becoming a member today. Visit
merage.uci.edu/go/DLC.
In Appreciation: To all contributors during 2008-2009 who helped support
the Dean’s Leadership Circle Endowed Professorship Campaign
VISIONARY
Greg Lai, ‘88, Morgan Stanley
– Chair & Campaign Leader
Pamela Adams, ‘98, Wells
Fargo Advisors – Founding
Chair
Mike Aghajanian, ‘89,
retired, formerly PRTM
Len Ambrosini, ‘02,
Rosemount Analytical
Thomas Antunez, ‘05,
Percentix
Johnson Chuang, ‘05,
AIPTEK, Inc.
Tallia Hart, Irvine Chamber of
Commerce Board of Directors
Mark Locklear, ‘84 & Lisa
Locklear, ‘84, Ingram Micro
Paula Milano, ‘80, & Eric
Nielsen, Idhasoft Company
Bill Rowland, ‘06, formerly
Disney
Amy Tan, ‘06, Tannart
Consulting
Mark Tran, ‘08, Tannart
Consulting
David Young, ‘90, ANFIELD
Group
INNOVATOR
Dwight Decker, Mindspeed
Technologies
Greg Herder, ‘05, Hobbs
Herder Advertising
Jesus Mantas, IBM
Kristen Monson, ‘86, PIMCO
Ram Mudiyam, MD, ‘05
Gary Toyama, ‘78, formerly
Boeing
INVESTOR
Katie Bianchi, ‘96, Marriott
International
Eugene Choi, ‘01, United
Exchange Corp.
Tosha Clements-Woolforde, ‘04,
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.
Edwin D. Fuller, Marriott
Lodging International
Noah Garrett, ‘08, Christen C.
and Ben H. Garrett Family
Foundation
David Jones, ‘93, Select
Portfolio Management
Samuel J. King, ‘00, King’s
Consulting
Michelle Koontz, ‘03, Fluor Corp.
48
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49
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
COLLABORATION
Kristen M. Maher, ‘98, Maher
& Associates
Johnny Mosham, Lett-uce
Cater To You
Rick W. Rayson, Deloitte &
Touche
Dean Andrew & Pamela Z.
Policano, The Paul Merage
School of Business
Stephen Rodriguez, ‘98,
Kingston Technology Co.
Scott M. Ryder, Jr., ‘00,
McGladrey Capital Markets
Isabel Satra, ‘02, Tradewinds
Global Investors, LLC
Jay Witzling, ‘79, Witzling and
Associates
MEMBER
Laine Ainsworth, Wealth
Management Network, LLC
Eve Barker, ‘06, Barker
Consulting
Dawn Beattie, ‘92, retired, formerly Qualcomm
Wolfgang Beez, ‘01, George
Fischer Signet, Inc.
Shep Bentley, NeuroMed
Devices, Inc.
Michael Bernstein, ‘84,
Bernstein Financial Services,
Inc.
Geoffrey Bremmer, ‘05,
Hansen’s Beverage Company
Tracy Bremmer, ‘05, ExperianScorex
Rafael Buitrago, ‘01, Boeing
Louis Burke, ‘98,
ConocoPhillips
Sheila Burke, ‘01, OptionOne
Mortgage
Marilyn Carroll Jackson,
MC-Adept Practice
Management Consulting Group
COLLABORATION
Christen Chambers, ‘05, Fox
Networks Group
Erik Charles, ‘03, Canon
Business Solutions
Professor Nai-Fu Chen,
The Paul Merage School
of Business
Sanjay Dalal, Innovation Index
Group
Al DeGrassi, ‘79, Plaza Bank
James Elliot, ‘00, City of
Carlsbad
Jason Emmons, ‘96, Deloitte
& Touche
Lupe Erwin, Wood Gutmann &
Bogart Insurance
Steven Fichtelberg, ‘93,
DLC, Inc.
Judith Gass, ‘00, GE MoneyCare Credit & Daryl Bogard,
Allergan Pharmaceuticals
John Gibson, ‘01, Gibson Law
Group
Michael Gillman, MD, ‘08
Professor Vijay Gurbaxani,
The Paul Merage School
of Business
David J. Hackett, ‘97,
Stillwater Associates
Anthony Hansford, ’98,
The Paul Merage School
of Business
Robert Herin, ‘89, Drake
Management LLC
Shaheen Husain, The Paul
Merage School of Business
Timothy J. Kay, Snell &
Wilmer, LLP
Professor Robin Keller,
The Paul Merage School
of Business
Christopher Kelly, ‘98,
RSI Home Products, Inc.
Sandra Kos, ‘93, IBM
Ian Koskela, ‘06, Financial
Services, IBM
Selva Kulasingam, ’07,
ZTNet Solutions
John Lambert, ‘83,
Lambert and Associates
Leon LaPorte, ‘77, LaPorte
and Associates, LLC
James Largent, ‘77,
World AM Inc.
Lin Leng, ‘04, Walt Disney
Interactive Media
Debbie Lewis
Timothy Leyden, ‘92, Western
Digital Corporation
Mark Lush ‘92, Deloitte &
Touche
Rich MacDonald, ‘05, Dawson
Cole Fine Art
Elizabeth Mahoney, ‘98,
Metrolink
Ahmed Mandre, ‘00, Microsoft
Kristen McAlister, ’03,
KD Consulting
Don McKinley, ‘01, Maersk
Logistics
Benjamin Medvitz, ‘06,
IntheAirNet, LLC
Richard Milo, ‘96, Deloitte &
Touche
Mark L. Moehlman, Wealth
Management Network, LLC
Rashad Moumneh, ‘04, Taco
Bell Corporation
Debra Moysychyn, ‘06,
The Paul Merage School
of Business
Richard Neff, ‘05,
Smart Modular
Carl Neisser, The Neisser
Company
Gus Ordonez, ‘05, Plastek, LLC
Lecturer Sue Padernacht,
Ncline Leadership Strategies
Anthony Padilla, ‘87, IMPAC
Financial Services
Jim and Janice Pavelko,
The Paul Merage School
of Business
Professor Jone Pearce,
The Paul Merage School
of Business
Robert Peirson, ‘84, Skyworks
Solutions, Inc.
Mark Pero, ‘98, Logicalis
Professor Mort & Mary
Pincus, The Paul Merage
School of Business
Michael Plue, ‘98, Premier
Recovery Service
Johanne Pollock, ’96, Deloitte
& Touche, LLP
Professor Emeritus Lyman &
Meredith Porter, The Paul
Merage School of Business
Greg Queen, ‘03,
Brasstech, Inc.
Steve Richards, ‘93, Pinnacle
Consulting Services
Jessica Riester, ‘01, FlexWork
Connection
Professor Judy B. Rosener,
The Paul Merage School of
Business
Nira Roston & Family
Diane Sagey, ‘99, The Paul
Merage School of Business
Arnold Savage, MD, ‘03,
Western Healthcare Medical
Group
Lecturer Terry Schmidt, The
Paul Merage School of
Business
Eileen Seibert, MD, ‘08, Kaiser
Permanente
Kane Shieh, ‘05, PIMCO
Craig Shugert, ‘93,
GoodSource Solutions
Mitchell & Maureen Spann,
The Paul Merage School of
Business
Ariela Tannenbaum, ‘95,
Allianz Global Investors of
America
Philip Topham, LNX Research
Kyle van Hoften, ‘97, Kyle van
Hoften Consulting
Professor Kerry Vandell, The
Paul Merage School of
Business
Thomas Wagner, ‘89, Taco
Bell/YUM Corporation
John Waldeck ‘01, Pacific Life
Insurance Company
Darren Whissen, ‘02, Select
Portfolio Management
Greg Yocum, ‘99, Alphatec
Spine
Timothy C. Zevnik, ‘93, Molina
Health Care, Inc.
Chris Zumberge, ‘82, US Bank
SHAREHOLDER
Edward Abad, ‘07
Bryan Anderson, ‘09
Arvind Arumbakkam, ‘09
Kimberly Balcerzak, ‘09
Lisa Baldewin, ‘09
Marco Baltero, ‘07
Yuliya Barbasheva, ‘06
Yvonne Bean, ‘08
Gretchen Bender, ‘08
Scott Bennett, ‘06
Andy Bi, ‘09
Linda Bolland, ‘09
Adam Bondy, ‘08
Vernon Briggs, ‘09
Iveta Brigis, ‘07
Juan Campo, ‘09
Tim Cannon, ‘07
Amanthi Chandraratna, ‘08
Erik Chantarapan, ‘08
Darwin Chen, ‘07
Violet Chen, ‘07
Shubra Chowdhury, ‘09
Doris Chu, ‘08
Maranda Chui, ‘09
Richard Cimino, ‘08
Casey Cochran, ‘06
Liana Constantinescu, ‘06
Paulo Correa, ‘08
Marc Crudgington, ‘08
Canaan Crouch, ‘08
Jayson Crouch, ‘09
Cuong Dang, ‘08
Frank de la Bretoniere, ‘07
Jonathan Danao, ‘08
Francois Delestre, ‘08
Adam Diep, ‘07
Jivko Donev, ‘06
Jacqueline Dresow, ‘08
Stephanie Dudley, ‘08
Brent Eickhoff, ‘06
Chris Elgaaen, ‘06
Gnanashanmugam Elumalai, ‘09
Jason Fair, ‘09
Nina Faustino, ‘09
Adam Fingersh, ‘09
Tony Frangieh, ‘09
Bernardo Garcia, ‘07
Sepideh Gazeri, ‘06
Brian A. Gibbs, ‘06
David Glazov, ‘07
Guillermo Gower, ‘09
Jason Green, ‘08
Rajesh Gupta, ‘09
Huzefa Hakim, ‘08
Alex Hammerschmidt, ‘08
Jeff Hanks, ‘09
Rob Henderson, ‘07
Eric Henrickson, ‘07
Ken Hsu, ‘07
Valentina Huang, ‘08
Ryan Huff, ‘08
Helena Hwang, ‘07
Ken Hwang, ‘07
Suhail Imtiaz, ‘08
Linda Jenkins, ‘08
Brad Johnson, ‘06
Ryan Kaneshiro, ‘07
Manas Kanungo, ‘09
Victor Kao, ‘07
Lena Kattar, ‘07
Lowell Kessel, ‘08
Rafay Khalid, ‘07
Angela Kim, ‘08
Zsolt Kiraly, ‘08
Howard Ko, ‘09
Stefan Kokolios, ‘07
Dimitri Krikelas, ‘08
Shankar Krishnan, ‘07
Monica Kristoffersen, ‘08
Selva Kulasingam, ‘07
Eric Lang, ‘08
Samara Larson, ‘08
Cord Laule, ‘08
David H. Lee, ‘08
Eli Lee, ‘08
Patrick Lee, ‘06
Mark Lenert, ‘07
Haifeng Li, ‘08
Jeff Light, ‘08
Peter Liu, ‘08
Wayne Liu, ‘09
Aileen Ma, ‘06
Michael Ma, ‘07
Christopher Mackenzie, ‘07
Jasdeep Singh Mann, ‘09
Todd Margrave, ‘08
Jon Masciana, ‘06
Kerry McCarthy, ‘09
Paul Mendonca, ‘08
Greg Metzger, ‘07
Chris Meyer, ‘08
David Mildren, ‘08
Heather Miller, ‘06
Hitomi Momose, MD, ‘07
Andrew Monteabaro, ‘08
Neill Mosqueda, MD, ‘07
Vasu Narasimhan, ‘07
Ken Neeld, ‘07
Susie Nishiya, ‘08
Rowell Nueva, ‘07
Francis Obedoza, ‘07
Justin Okun, ‘09
Brendon O’Neill, ‘07
Michael Perlongo, ‘09
Duke Pham, ‘09
Jean Platt, ‘09
John Presser, ‘07
Michael Pressman, ‘08
Manette Quinn ‘06
Valente Ramos, MD, ‘07
Alexander Jay Rapoport, ‘08
Joseph Raquel, ‘08
Bill Rasmussen, ‘08
Canaan Reich, ‘07
Matthew Rhead, ‘09
Paul Robidoux, ‘07
Lucy Rosales-Watson, ‘07
Bill Ryan, ‘08
Reza Sabahi, ‘09
Bijan Sadri, MD, ‘08
Prabhjot Saini, ‘09
Laurie Sanderson, ‘07
Koushik Sasmal, ‘08
Priyanka Saxena, ‘08
Joyce Seak, ‘07
Shibu Sen, ‘08
Bill Shadrick, ‘06
Ali Shah, ‘06
Sameer Shah, ‘09
Bharat Shah, MD, ‘08
Gautam Sharma, ‘09
Roy Sharma, ‘09
Timothy Sheehan, ‘06
Laura Sheen, ‘09
Jeffrey Shekell, ‘09
Amarinder Sidhu, ‘08
Simon Singh, ‘08
Joseph Smith, ‘08
Trevor Speirs, ‘08
Amy Stevens, ‘08
Brad Stoker, ‘09
Gopal Subramani, ‘08
Alan Sung, ‘09
Timothy Tang, ‘07
Kathryn Taylor, ‘08
James Tea, ‘08
Jane Terry, ‘09
Dinesh Thigale, ‘08
Kevin Thiha, ‘08
Graham Threadgill, ‘08
Ernest Trinidad, ‘09
Margaret Townsend, ‘07
Danny Tran, ‘08
Jon Tran, ‘08
George Varghese, ‘08
Vinod Vasudevan, ‘09
Dawn Verzosa, ‘09
Andre Vovan, MD, ‘07
Wakeem Wakeem, ‘08
Amy Wakeham, ‘06
Bradley Walker, ‘06
Rebecca Warner, ‘08
Sujata Watts, ‘09
Fred Webb, ’08
Terence Weiner, ‘07
Jeff Williamson, ‘07
Tiffany Wilson, ‘07
Jennifer C. Wong, ‘08
Steven Wong, ‘09
Vivian Wong, ‘07
Perry Yeh, ‘08
Genevieve Yulo, ‘08
Kaisu Zhuang, ‘08
Todd Zive, ‘07
Includes gifts & pledges to the
Dean’s Leadership Circle during
7/01/08 – 6/30/09
50
e x p e r i e n c e I N N O V AT I O N
51
Merage
|
2009 – 2010
ALUMNI NEWS
ALUMNI NEWS
The Merage School Annual Fund
Donor Honor Roll
to all of our alumni and
friends whose philanthropic contributions to the Merage
Annual Fund during the 2008-2009 fiscal year have
enabled The Paul Merage School of Business to enrich
the experience of students, faculty and the community at
W E AR E S I N C E R E LY GR AT E F U L
large. Your support allows our School to help deliver its
thematic approach to business education: sustained
growth through strategic innovation.
*Gifts & pledges received 7/1/08 – 6/30/09
Stephen Chien ‘02
David Chia ‘98
Raymond Komar ‘96
Charles Rieckhoff ‘88
Daniel Gladden ‘99
Susan Chun ‘97
Brian Kramer ‘00
Praveen Rikkala ‘05
Timothy Bremer ‘92
Scott Green ‘97
Kristin Clarke Batoy ‘96
Michele Laird-Williams ‘88
Matthew Riley ‘06
Susan Cimbaluk
Robert Herin ‘89
Hari Damineni ‘07
Jennifer Leuer ‘04
Steven Ross ‘01
Bruce Daly ‘96
Zhu Liu ‘06
Joan Di Laura ‘88
Christopher Lieber ‘01
Sandon Saffier ‘98
Vito Francone
Vishal Mehra ‘08
Mitchell Diamond ‘97
Julie Lien ‘05
Preet Sahni ‘06
Timothy Guth ‘84
Jeff Nelder ‘05
Eric Dibella ‘93
Mark Locascio ‘93
Maria Corazon Sara ‘96
Lin Leng ‘04
Christopher Purvis ‘04
Umesh Divekar ‘08
John Loo ‘87
Robert Schenz ‘75
Jose Manalo ‘07
Valente Ramos ‘07
Jason Dunn ‘05
Ken MacAlpine ‘04
Sherry Schulman ‘88
David Sullivan ‘02
John Richmond ‘00
Denji Ebisu ‘79
Bryan MacQuarrie ‘00
Theodore Su ‘00
Alexander Strachan ‘08
Judith Flattery ‘90
Rodney Madsen ‘90
Kojiro Sugiura ‘04
Mark Tacconelli ‘00
David Forsyth ‘90
Vinod Malik ‘08
Gary Swon ‘96
Dora Wong
Bernadette Fruto ‘96
Gregory Marks ‘94
Khang Ta
Kerra Guffey ‘00
Lawrence Martin ‘00
Julie Trom ‘85
Bronze
$100 - $249
Thomas Ha ‘99
Don May ‘00
Camlien Tsai ‘98
Daniel Ham ‘94
Joseph McGirr ‘98
James Tu ‘99
Steve Acterman ‘99
Michael Hemingway ‘01
Daniel Mckelvie ‘80
Alan Velasco ‘08
Andre Amiri ‘05
Dwight Henninger ‘87
Laurie Meamber ‘97
Steven Waltman ‘97
David Ardini ‘94
Simon Ho ‘00
Richard Morgan ‘80
James Wang ‘00
Christie Bach ‘97
Steven Hogan ‘80
Kurt Mowery ‘88
Anna Wang ‘05
Michael Becker ‘97
Julie Holdaway ‘94
Leo Nguyen ‘03
David Watson ‘00
Rajarama Bhagwat ‘97
Deborah Holmgren ‘98
Donna Oba ‘84
Tony Weatrowski ‘06
Miguel Blass ‘07
Todd Hopson ‘79
William O'Connell ‘89
Andy Wei ‘06
Rachel Bobroff ‘08
William Hoverman ‘93
Rebecca Ozoa ‘02
Ivan Williams ‘96
Gregg Boehm ‘06
Jennifer Hu ‘03
Marc Pannier ‘02
Allison Willis ‘05
Marta Borsanyi ‘75
Daniel Huggard ‘01
Andy Paz ‘07
Mitchell Wilson ‘91
Robert Boullon ‘86
Charles Hulem ‘82
Mark Peller ‘03
Chik Wong ‘06
Sean Bradley ‘91
Cathy Imai ‘01
Brian Potts ‘04
Lorraine Wrazen ‘87
Roger Brown ‘90
Brett Johnson ‘00
Diane Prins ‘00
Michael Wu ‘03
Silver
$250 - $499
Scott Buchan ‘90
Craig Johnson ‘95
Umesh Ratnam ‘01
Cindy Wu ‘07
Gregory Buscher ‘95
Steven Johnston ‘98
Janet Reece ‘77
Hani Yassin ‘04
Carson Barnett ‘91
Alice Carter ‘01
Fernando Kang ‘06
Lisa Reyer ‘94
Christopher Zahlis ‘96
Michael Bissonette ‘98
George Chelius ‘06
Matthew Ketsdever ‘98
Paul Rianda ‘00
Ren Zhang ‘06
Lesley Bauer ‘00
Allyson Brown ‘97
James Chergey
Peggy Chiu ‘01
Richard Cordova ‘84
Dave Dew ‘00
Daniel Hammond ‘00
Elizabeth Hargreaves ‘84
Christopher Kilpatrick ‘03
Brian Kreitzer ‘06
Robert Leamy ‘78
Douglas Patterson ‘05
John Reichle ‘97
Tiffany Scarborough ‘01
Camille Seifert ‘06
Wendy Yamagishi ‘01
ALUMNI NETWORK
The Merage Annual Fund
Co-Chair Spotlight
O R AN GE C O U N T Y E V E N T S :
Platinum
$1,000+
Gold
$500 - $999
Your
Central County Luncheon:
1st Fridays
Costa Mesa
South County Luncheon:
4th Fridays
Irvine
North County Luncheon:
Once per quarter
Anaheim
Amy Tan, ‘06
Dave Jones, ‘93
QUART E R LY R E GI O NAL P RO GR AM S :
Programs are planned throughout the
year in major cities throughout the
U.S. and some international locales.
Contact MerageAlum@merage.uci.edu
to organize one in your area.
Visit
merage.uci.edu/go/alumni
for details.
L IFE AFTER THE MERAGE SCHOOL
doesn’t mean life without the
Merage School. One way our alumni
and friends stay involved is through
the Merage School Annual Fund.
This is an opportunity for all alumni
to give back to the School while
helping today’s students move forward.
Each year, a select few of our
most devoted and loyal alumni
share their “treasure” and also their
“time.” They devote their energy volunteering and generously providing
philanthropic support. These individuals are able to see the positive
impact they and other alumni have
upon the School and the outstanding
legacy they leave behind. We are
truly grateful for their expertise,
leadership, and commitment.
Our 2008-2009 Annual Fund CoChairs, Amy Tan ’06 & Dave Jones
’93 are two wonderful examples of
this alumni spirit. In light of a challenging economy, they helped
increase participation and aware-
ness of the fund at a time when
many could not participate. Because
of their leadership, hundreds of
Merage School alumni stepped forward to help raise over $50,000 in
one of the most difficult years we
have ever faced.
Amy graduated from the Fully
Employed MBA program in 2006.
She is currently managing partner
for Tannart Consulting, a biotech/
medical firm in Orange County. In
addition, she is a Visionary member
of the Dean’s Leadership Circle.
Dave Jones graduated from the
Executive MBA program in 1993.
He is a wealth management specialist
at Select Portfolio Management in
Aliso Viejo. Dave is also an Investor
member of the Dean’s Leadership
Circle and serves on the Advisory
Board for the Center for Investment
and Wealth Management.
Thank you to all of the generous
Merage Alumni who participated,
and thank you to our co-chairs for
their direction and hard work!
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Merage
|
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ALUMNI NEWS
ALUMNI NEWS
Reunion Chairwoman Lisa Locklear (MBA ’84)
and Memories Co-Chair David Ochi (MBA ’04)
“Best Dressed” Winners Torin Finney and
Jill Jacobs Forbath (MBA ‘84)
Memories Co-Chair Mike
Harrington (PhD ’73)
Merageville Reunion
September 12, 2009
M E R AG E S CH O O L A LUM N I from the classes ending in a “4” or “9” (1969 – 2009) returned to campus to reunite with
classmates and the Merage School family at a festive party for the 2009 reunion called “Merageville.”
Dean Andy Policano welcomed and shared stories with some of the former students as did several long time Merage
School (GSM) professors including Imran Currim, Judy Rosener, Richard McKenzie, and Robin Keller.
Lisa Locklear (MBA ’84) did a wonderful job as “Merageville" volunteer chair and David Ochi (MBA ’04) along with Mike
Harrington (PhD ‘73), helped to inspire the guests in recounting favorite memories from their business school days.
More than 160 guests enjoyed margaritas sponsored by the Merage School Dean’s Leadership Circle. Jill Jacobs
Forbath (MBA ‘84) and Torin Finney were presented with the “best dressed” award by Alumni Director Maureen
McAndrews. Traveling the greatest distances to attend the reunion were Cathering Zhou (FEMBA ‘04) who traveled from
China, Mike Harrington (PhD ‘73) from Virginia, and Bob Moschorak (FEMBA ‘94) from Chicago.
On Sunday, the celebration continued at Anaheim Stadium with a “tailgate” BBQ courtesy of everyone’s “favorite
caterer” Johnny Mosham at Let-tuce Cater to You.
Learn more at merage.uci.edu/go/alumni.
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Merage
|
2009 – 2010
ALUMNI NEWS
Class Notes
’75
M IC KE Y NOVAK, ’ 7 5 , is now retired and
living in Costa Rica with his wife, Jody,
and 5 year old son Caleb. He sold his
business in 1999 and is enjoying life.
’78
DANIEL APPLETON, ’ 7 8 , Captain US
Navy (Ret). Formerly Associate Director
of UC Public Policy Research
Organization (a predecessor to Merage)
under Director Ken Kraemer. Today,
Daniel is continuing independent
research to help people in US Navy
ships perform expertly under extreme
conditions.
’81
C H R I S TO P H E R B L AN K, ’ 8 1 , continues
to practice law in the areas of business
litigation and business bankruptcy. He
just returned from the Family Nature
Summit which was held at Lake George,
New York, and is looking forward to the
next gathering at the Granlibakken
Resort in Lake Tahoe. He is a founding
member, and has served as President of
Family Summits, Inc., since 2006.
C H R I S TO P H E R L AW S O N , ’ 8 1 ,
recently released his new book,
“Snappy Interviews: 100 Questions to
Ask Oracle DBAs.” Chris is currently a
performance consultant at Wells Fargo
Bank, San Francisco.
’82
B I L L OW E N , ’ 8 2 , joined Hunter Wise
Financial Group in January of 2009.
Hunter Wise is a specialized investment
banking firm providing the highest quality level of institutional financing, merger
and acquisition, divestiture and advisory
services for middle market, privatelyheld companies, as well as small to
medium-sized public businesses.
’83
JE F F H AT H AW AY, ’ 8 3 , has retired as a
rear admiral in the U.S. Coast Guard
and is now vice president of federal
ALUMNI NEWS
programs for L-1 Identity Solutions, a
premier provider of biometric and
secure credentialing solutions.
’84
JI L L JAC O B S F O R BAT H , ’ 8 4 ,
announces that her daughter, Tracy
Diana Forbath, will graduate from UCLA
with a major in Philosophy in June of
2010. She will be taking the LSAT and
plans on attending law school, maybe
even at UC Irvine!
’89
JAM E S KO, ’ 8 9 , and his wife, Elizabeth,
welcomed their first baby boy, Jasper
James Ko, into the world on February 7,
2009. James is currently a Senior
Business Analyst at LiveNation.
M ATT M ITC H E L L , ’ 8 9 , has been elected
Board Chairman of Greater DC Cares,
Washington DC's largest volunteer nonprofit. Matt had the opportunity to sit
with First Lady Michele Obama to discuss the Administration’s push to serve
in our communities.
’90
R E Z A GAN JAV I , ’ 9 0 , is a senior project
manager for a large Swiss organization.
He is also managing and performing in a
new band, Rezangela and is maintaining
an online journal (rezajournal.com).
’91
JAM E S H AS KI N , ’ 9 1 , was promoted to
Senior Vice President on July 18, 2008,
and he is the Chief Information Officer
for Websense in San Diego.
’92
T I M B R E M E R , ’ 9 2 , recently returned
to Los Angeles to lead the National
Aerospace & Defense Audit and
Enterprise Risk Services practice for
Deloitte.
’93
P H I L I P P E T U S L E R , ’ 9 3 , has been
honored to move from Wamu Home
Loans to the Retail Bank Incentives
Management group, where he is working
as a Sr. BSA with the business and the
developers to keep incentives plans
refined and current.
’94
GL E N KAU F F M AN , ’ 9 4 , and the rest of
the Kauffman family welcomed Abby to
the household a little over 2 years ago.
She is the sparkle in daddy’s eye. Glen
took a leap this year into new field and
joined Northwestern Mutual Financial
Network. He has the privilege of helping
provide financial security for people personally and in their business, and is able
to leverage his background in corporate
finance to make a difference in peoples’
lives.
’95
KE N T B Y E R S , ’ 9 5 , has partnered with
the founder of Golden Wellness, Inc.
They are an early stage startup that is
manufacturing universal-use fitness
equipment designed for people with disabilities or physical limitations.
KARY N W O M AC H , ’ 9 7 , recently
became the Finance Systems Training
Manager for Qualcomm Incorporated.
She is responsible for overall systems
training strategy, content development
and delivery.
’98
H E AT H E R KR AU S E , ’ 9 8 , married Joe
Kelsen on May 18, 2008. They reside in
Irvine.
’99
S T E V E AC T E R M AN , ' 9 9 has joined
Alliance HealthCare Services in Newport
Beach as the new Director, IT
Infrastructure. Steve is an active Merage
alum, previously serving on the GSM
Alumni Network Board and assisted the
2009 Reunion Committee.
F R I T Z H E I R I C H , ’ 9 9 , was named Chief
Executive Officer at the Schools Excess
Liability Fund (SELF) in September
2008. SELF is a Joint Powers Authority
and is the leading provider of catastrophic liability insurance to California
public schools and colleges.
TO B Y GR E E N E , ’ 9 5 , is the Marketing
Director of Provident Financial Mexico.
Toby has been based in Puebla, Mexico
since July 2008.
AR I E L A TAN N E N BAU M , ’ 9 5 , lives in
Newport Coast and is a Senior Vice
President, Finance, for Allianz Global
Investors. Her husband, Zvi, founded
Advanced Cluster Systems, LLC, a hightech company that specializes in
supercomputing technologies.
’96
D I AN E LO H M AN , ’ 9 6 , reports that her
company Seed offers eclectic items
including: jewelry, t-shirts and stationery. Seed’s hand drawn design and
haiku offer a thought provoking message. Diane studied at both The School
of Visual Arts and the FIT in NYC.
’97
RO B E RT L E N Z I N I , ’ 9 7 , was appointed
to Administrative Law Judge of the
California Unemployment Appeals Board
(CUIAB), on April 6, 2009.
LO R E L RO E H L , ’ 9 9 , is now the Senior
Regional Director, Human Resources –
West, Hawaii and Mexico at Starwood
Hotels & Resorts, Inc.
B R I AN ROW E , ’ 9 9 , After ten years with
Weyerhaeuser Realty Investors, Brian
recently left to start his own company to
purchase, manage and liquidate nonperforming portfolios of debt and equity
investments in real estate.
B R I AN ROW E , ’ 9 9 , and his wife,
Deborah, are expecting their two year
old son, Ezekiel, to become a big brother
to Anika on August 21st in Seattle, WA.
DAV I D S C H U LT Z , ’ 9 9 , was named
2009 San Diego Business Journal CFO
of the year.
’00
P H I L I P AL L E GA, ’ 0 0 , is honored to
have received from Patrimony the
Freedom of the City of London. He is a
Freeman in the Information Technologists’
Company, a City of London Livery
Company. He exercised his new rights as
a Freeman when he drove sheep over
London Bridge on September 19, 2008
with the Worshipful Company of World
Traders and other Freeman.
Merage School to teaching Small
Business Management. She looks forward to helping develop and mentor the
next generation of entrepreneurs.
P H I L I P AL L E GA, ’ 0 0 , after 5+ years in
Europe, Philip has been officially relocated to San Antonio, TX.
DAV I D BAR C L AY, ’ 0 0 announces the
arrival of his twins, Valerie and Kathryn,
who arrived in September 2008. Big sister Jillian is thrilled, although still
adjusting to her new post-only-child role.
AN JAL I BAT R A-B O N FAN T E , ’ 0 0 wel-
comed identical twin girls, Jasmine and
Maya Bonfante on July 24th, 2009.
JAM E S C U M M I S KE Y, ’ 0 0 , Cosworth
announced the appointment of Jim
Cummiskey as the Group's Senior Vice
President, Americas, effective as of
June 1st, 2009. Cummiskey brings
extensive technical and leadership experience gained from posts in leading
aerospace and Silicon Valley technology
companies and a successful career in
the US Marine Corps.
SCOTT DUNAGAN, ’ 0 0 , has formed
DMIdeas.com, LLC, to provide online
marketing services to clients in the
Orange County Metro area.
JO R GE V E L AR D E , ’ 0 0 , was promoted
to the position of Vice President of
Business Development at Illumina. In
this new role Jorge will continue to
provide direct leadership to Illumina’s
Business Development organization as
well as to the company’s Alliance
Management team.
D I NA YO U N G , ’ 0 0 , started with
Hasbro, Inc. as HR Director for
Corporate Services in March 2009.
D I NA YO U N G , ’ 0 0 , and William Young
welcomed their first child, Zachary
Todd Young, into the world on June 19,
2009.
’01
C AR M E N BAM E RT M AS O N , ’ 0 1 , and
her husband recently welcomed the
newest addition to their family, Timothy,
born in September 2007. Carmen is
enjoying every second of motherhood!
JI M I N KU M AM OTO, ’ 0 0 , and Kris
Kumamoto welcomed daughter Allison
on August 14, 2008.
JOHN BL AKE, ’01, recently moved to
the 787 program. John reports that it’s
very fast-paced and a lot of fun. He is
really looking forward to a successful
first flight!
S U S AN M O E , ’ 0 0 , has been living
C O R B I N F OW L E R , ’ 0 1 , moved to an
abroad in Oslo, Norway the past year.
Check out her blog at moefamily.wordpress.com.
“internal consultant” role with
corporate Supply Chain Solutions
Group, based in the corporate offices
in Richmond, Virginia. His role is to
establish strategy and lead optimization efforts in supply chains across the
globe.
JE N N I F E R R I S N E R , ’ 0 0 , recently
accepted a position as Director of
Admission for St. Mary and All Angels
School in Aliso Viejo, where she resides
with her husband, Mark.
S U NA TAY M AZ , ’ 0 0 , Senior Manager in
Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Security and
Privacy Practice is a proud holder of a
world record she set last year for the
longest transcontinental limousine journey, from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA to
Timbuktu, Mali in Africa. She looks forward to setting more records on an
upcoming trip to Uganda’s Bwindi
Impenetrable Forest.
E R I N T H O M AS , ’ 0 0 , is now an
Associate Professor at Mira Costa
College in the Business Department.
She is bringing knowledge gained at the
C AT H Y I M AI , ’ 0 1 , and her husband,
Ryokei welcomed their third child, Taryn
Mei-Tsong Imai, on April 23, 2009. Big
brothers Brandon and Ryan are excited
to have a new baby sister.
KE N N E T H P I E R C E , ’ 0 1 , is the princi-
pal at Pierce & Company which provides
forensic accounting and litigation support services.
JE S S I C A R I E S T E R , ’ 0 1 , formed a new
recruiting and staffing company, FlexWork
Connection, focused on connecting
experienced professionals with flexible
work schedules in Orange County.
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Merage
|
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ALUMNI NEWS
’02
AD I T YA C H AU H AN , ’ 0 2 , announces
that her book on Applied Game Theory
was recently published and is now available on Amazon.
PAT R I C K F E AT H E R S TO N , ’ 0 2 , is living
in Sydney, Australia helping US companies set up sales channels in and export
to Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
AN D R E W KI M , ’ 0 2 , tied the knot in
October 2007. He wasn't sure if he’d be
ready, but so far, it's pretty good!
RO B E RT S H I P L E Y, ’ 0 2 , moved to
Columbus, OH last fall to take a position as the Director of Customer
Marketing Analytics for Victoria's
Secret. He and his family are enjoying
their new home and are glad to be back
in the Midwest.
DAR L E E N S W AF F E R , ’ 0 2 is
currently working in Washington, DC
at Commander Navy Installations
Command, as a Planner developing
strategic plans for the Navy's shore
infrastructure.
’03
RAM Z I AM M ARI, ’ 0 3 , is Vice President
of Product Development at Universal
Electronics, a consumer electronics
company specializing in universal wireless control technologies, based in
southern California. Ramzi is married to
Dana (nee Borda) and they have three
children; Paris (7) and twin boys Grey
and Pierce (1). They live in Newport
Coast, California.
C Y N T H I A ( C I N DY ) B E AL E , ’ 0 3 , and
Steve Settimo, co-founders of Stecin
Leadership Solutions, announce the
release of DISC The Game™, a learning
tool based on the DISC behavioral
model used extensively in Corporate
Training, Coaching, and Counseling.
B I L L B L AC KW E L L , ’ 0 3 , works for
Carne Global Financial Services (UK)
Ltd as a principal consultant and heads
up product development and management.
GE R AR D O C H AR V E L , ’ 0 3 , celebrated
the arrival of his third daughter, Natalia
Isabella, in March of 2008.
JA M E S C O L E M A N , ’ 0 3 , reports in
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ALUMNI NEWS
March 2008 and again in May 2008,
TechRoom Inc. was recognized by Apple
Inc. for having achieved levels of service
excellence that place TechRoom in the
top 5% of all authorized service
providers in North America.
T E R RY H AGE N , ’ 0 3 , moved to DC last
summer and was promoted to
Lieutenant Colonel in February. He is
currently working near the Pentagon at
Headquarters Marine Corps Installations
and Logistics branch on future strategic
level logistics concepts.
S H I N JI H I GU C H I , ’ 0 3 , is leaving Clear
Channel Japan, Inc. where he worked as
COO and eventually CEO for 3 years. He
is going back to Mitsui & Co., Tokyo,
Japan, a company where he worked for
over 25 years.
T I M JO H N S O N , ’ 0 3 , started in April as
Director, Strategic Alliances at
Commtouch in Sunnyvale.
C R AI G JU L I E N , ’ 0 3 , accepted a job in
February of 2009 as VP of Corporate
Development at TriZetto. He is working
for a member of his study group and
classmate of the 2003 EMBA class.
M ONTY M A, ’ 0 3 , recently moved from
Silicon Valley to Manhattan to join Radio
One's Interactive One division as Sr.
Analyst, Finance and Web Analytics. He
will use his skills in Web analytics, financial analysis and product management
as well as extensive experiences in
radio/entertainment industries to contribute to the continuous offline/online
expansion of Radio One.
S T E V E PAR K, ’ 0 3 , asks everyone to
check out his monthly humor column at
oclifemagazine.com. It's called Ask An
Asian. He invites everyone to send him
questions!
M . AN N P E O P L E S , ’ 0 3 , reports the
U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
recently announced the winner of a contract to manage, operate, and selectively
decommission plutonium-producing
facilities at the Sellafield nuclear site.
Ann led the successful program management team, developing the strategic
plan, performance-based incentives,
expenditure profile management, and
project controls.
B E AU S C H I N D L E R , ’ 0 3 , and his wife,
Kristin Schindler had their first child on
January 24, 2008. August Schindler was
born at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans
during the height of Mardi Gras season.
Mom and baby are happy and healthy.
L AN C E S M I T H , ’ 0 3 , started a small
business and is expecting his first child
in 3 weeks! He invites everyone to stop
by and say hello at CarlsbadOptometry.net.
C R AI G T I F FAN Y, ’ 0 3 , accepted a
position at Citrix Systems as the
Director of Sales for the Advanced
Networking Group. Craig will be working
with his team and customers throughout the western United States.
YAN W U, ’ 0 3 , had his first book,
Partners, published in Chinese in June
2009.
’04
AN U AGAR W AL , ’ 0 4 , announces the
birth of her son, Aayan born on May
27th, 2008.
D O NAL D AR C H E R , ’ 0 4 , started PQM,
Inc. in 2006 which provides quality
management, risk management and
project management services to major
infrastructure projects. PQM’s goals are
to help owners reduce construction cost
overruns through improved management
practices early in the project development phase. He lives in Huntington
Beach, CA.
cial/residential general contractor located in Orange.
JAC K LO N D O N , ’ 0 4 , and his wife and
welcomed their son, Jack Tobin London,
on November 11th, 2008.
JO E LO N GT I N , ’ 0 4 , After trying out a
start-up in Pasadena – X1 Technologies –
and a legacy ERP company in Santa
Barbara – QAD – Joe has very happily
landed a Product Marketing role at
DATAllegro, an Aliso Viejo-based data
warehouse appliance vendor.
AN T H O N Y N GU Y E N , ’ 0 4 , has become
a SVP at Wellpoint.
TO D D S I GL E R , ’ 0 4 , and his wife, Heidi
Sigler announce the birth of their
second child, Olivia Sigler. Todd has left
LECG and has taken the position of Vice
President in the financial advisory services group of AlixPartners.
M I KE VAC H AN I , ’ 0 4 , left the Lewis
Companies last year as Land Acquistion
Manager and started up his own Real
Estate Investment Brokerage &
Consulting Firm. He has 3 main areas
of expertise: Investment/Commercial,
Residential/ Multi-Family,and
Consulting.
JENNIFER WOLF, ’04, and Rashad
Moumneh, ’04, tied the knot in Culver
City, California on July 10, 2009. The
happy couple currently reside in Costa
Mesa.
WE ARE ALL TODAY’S LEADERS
Together, we can continue to educate both hearts and minds, delivering
passionate graduates who contribute to their family, their company –
our community, our world.
WE ARE ALL FORWARD-THINKING
Our donors who give consistently each year enable us to move forward
with confidence – support that is especially appreciated in today’s
economic climate and so vital to our ability to compete.
DALE BOYLES, ’04, recently sold
Monarch Senior Living to Senior Care
Management, LLC in Irvine, CA, and has
assumed the role of President. Senior
Care Management has 18 assisted
living communities throughout the
West. Dale has also recently relocated
to San Diego, CA.
L E O N GLOV E R , ’ 0 4 , announces that
Lionheart Wines had its first release
party on July 19, 2008. Five wines were
released: 2007 The Angel's Share, white
Rhone blend (Marsanne / Roussanne /
Viognier), Russian River Valley; 2007
McGinley Roussane, Santa Barbara
County; 2006 Syrah, Santa Barbara
County; 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon,
Napa Valley; 2006 Roaring Red.
JO NAT H AN H AW KI N S , ’ 0 4 , and his
wife, Shannon, are expecting their fourth
child in September 2009, joining Riley,
7; Will, 5; and Finley, 3. Jonathan is the
CFO of PR Construction, a commer-
WE ARE ALL PARTNERS
The Merage School family springs from the founding spirit of the
School: the desire to educate, to enable and to enrich our students as
others did for us. Please join us in paying it forward.
Your gift – no matter what the size – provides the flexibility to attend
to our most critical needs, including:
· attracting world-class faculty and student
· enhancing classroom technology and instruction
· funding fellowships for deserving students
The Paul Merage School of Business Annual Fund
Please give today. A convenient envelope is enclosed, or visit
merage.uci.edu/go/AnnualFund.
’05
DAV ID C H E N, ’ 0 5 joined JCB Partners,
a mid-size boutique consulting firm out
of Denver, as Senior Lead Consultant for
the US west region. His job will require
him to grow the regional practice
through his intimate knowledge about
the performance management/business
intelligence industry.
B R AD E I S E N S T E I N , ’ 0 5 , joined Twin
Med LLC as CFO in September 2008.
Twin Med LLC is a nationwide distributor of medical supplies to long-term
and acute care facilities.
M AR C FAW AZ , ’ 0 5 , earned a Doctorate
in Organizational Leadership from
Pepperdine University in Malibu and
ALUMNI NEWS
Looking for top
MBA talent?
walked at graduation in June 2009.
Marc has been a Professor of Business
at Concordia University, Irvine for the
past 3 years.
GR E G F E R R E L L , ’ 0 5 , and his wife
Tanya are currently living in Huntington
Beach with their 18 month old son Jack.
Greg works for Wyeth (soon to be
Pfizer), Tanya is a hospice admissions
nurse, and Jack works both parents
overtime with his boundless energy.
S AR AH H I N E , ’ 0 5 , is co-founder and
CEO of PharmaSecure, Inc., a social
enterprise dedicated to curbing the
global trade of counterfeit medicine
and providing branding and security
services to leading pharma manufacturers. Sarah lives in New Delhi.
S C OT T PAD E L S KY, ’ 0 5 , was promoted
to Managing Consultant with IBM Global
Services.
KYL E PATTE RS ON, ’ 0 5 , and his wife
Rebecca welcomed their second son who
was born January 22, 2009. Miles joins
his 2 year old brother Eli! The Pattersons
are doing great living in Washington, DC.
’06
the clean energy and climate goals of
President Obama and the U.S.
Department of Energy.
JE S S E S AL E N , ’ 0 6 , the VP of Sales
and Technology at Online Radiology
Medical Group, Inc., was the featured
speaker at the AHRA 2008 Annual
Meeting & Exposition held from July 27
through July 31 at the Colorado
Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.
H I R E N S H AH , ’ 0 6 , has recently been
promoted to Director of SAP Practice at
Irvine-based consulting firm Idhasoft.
you to the FEMBA ‘06 Section A for all
their help and support after she lost her
house in the San Diego Wildfires in
October. She especially wants to thank
Felice Szeto-Wong for her efforts on her
family's behalf. Her classmates’ support
is greatly appreciated.
’07
JAM E S L E E , ’ 0 7 , started a new job at
Warner Bros. in Burbank.
AN GE L A M AN Z ANAR E S , ’ 0 7 , the
Thach on July 11th, 2009, and is now
living in Sunnyvale, CA.
C AS E Y C O C H R AN , ’ 0 6 , is Murad’s
S T E V E R H E E , ’ 0 7 , Attended the Beijing
Bonnie are excited to be expecting their
first child this February.
CLARENCE CHAN, ’06, married Maggie
Catalog Manager and was recently interviewed by Multichannel Merchant
Magazine on Murad's secrets to success
despite a down economy. Murad's 2008
Catalog received national accolades as a
finalist in the 2008 MCM Catalog
Awards.
JE S S I C A JO R GE N S O N , ’ 0 6 , Graduated
from University of the Pacific, McGeorge
School of Law with a J.D. in May of 2009
and is awaiting the California Bar results.
L I V I KE R S Z E N BAU M , ’ 0 6 , is working
in Washington DC as Chief of Staff for
Liebman & Associates, a clean energy
and environmental technology advocacy
and consulting firm. Skills learned at
the Merage School are applied daily to
embrace revolutionary technologies and
best practices that closely align with
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JE F F L AW R E N C E , ’ 0 8 , recently accepted the position of Vice President of
Business Development with Inventory
Optimization Solutions, which provides
web based inventory management solutions for healthcare providers,
distributors and manufacturers.
TO N Y M ART I N , ’ 0 8 , co-founded a leadership development and training firm
based in San Diego. Exemplar Leadership
Development & Training helps develop a
company's most important asset, its people.
JAN E T TAI T, ’ 0 6 , wanted to say thank
founder of Fitlosophy Inc., marks the 1year anniversary of the fitbook (a
product of many FEMBA projects)! The
past year has included: landing Sport
Chalet and GNC, implementing corporate wellness programs for Fortune 500
companies, and receiving national PR.
Fitlosophy is slated to release Fitbook
Junior (for the young ones) this month.
S C OT T B E N N E T T, ’ 0 6 , and his wife
ing to close escrow on a brand new home
and expecting his first child in December!
Olympics opening ceremony on
September 8, 2009, got married in 2008
and has a newborn daughter, Eileen Rhee.
NATAS H A S H C H E R BAT KO, ’ 0 7 , and
her husband are excited to announce
the arrival of their daughter Gianna on
June 20, 2009.
’08
M AR LO N B O R B O N , ’ 0 8 , accepted a
new position as the Director of
Rehabilitation Services at Presbyterian
Intercommunity Hospital.
JO NAT H AN DANAO, ’ 0 8 , within three
months of graduation, got married and
started a new job as Project Manager for
WebVisible Inc. in Irvine. He is now wait-
JO H N N Y O L I VA, ’ 0 8 , USN/MSC, has
been designated as the Medical
Regulating and Control Officer at NATO
Joint Forces, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
GAU R AV S H AR M A, ’ 0 8 , joined his family business in real-estate development and
successfully launched his first project this
past May; 228 of the 572 condominiums
in this project have already sold!
’09
AMANDA GAST, MBA ‘09
Johnson & Johnson
AM I R BAGH E R P O U R , ’ 0 9 , will begin a
PhD program in public policy at
Claremont Graduate University. Amir will
be conducting preliminary research in
Afghanistan from June to August 2010.
JE N N I F E R C R I C K, ’ 0 9 , will be transferring to the Denver Ernst & Young office
in mid-September!
Let the Merage MBA Career Center be your first source in Orange
County for qualified MBA Business Professionals. Tapping into the
professional talent network of our four MBA programs and alumni
has never been easier.
JAYS O N C RO U C H , ’ 0 9 , was married on
July 10, 2009 to Desiree Aguirre.
■
POST full-time and internship opportunities
PAR H AM JAVAH E R I AN , ’ 0 9 , has been
■
REVIEW resumes for your open positions
■
REQUEST a resume referral tailored to your specific needs
■
CONTACT us today at:
UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business
MBA Career Center
MPAA 201
Irvine, CA 92697-3130
949.824.8464
recruiting@merage.uci.edu
involved in an exciting start-up of a
“Virtual Accounting” company which
offers state of the art technology in
outsourced accounting services. At
“Peak Virtual Accounting” he is responsible for Marketing Strategies and
Operations.
AD R I E N N E KI M B L E , ’ 0 9 , accepted a
new position as Marketing Director for
Orange County-based Veros Real Estate
Solutions.
TAKE S H I YAM AM OTO, ’ 0 9 , met Peggy
Hsieh , ’09 while attending the Merage
School and they were married on June
28, 2009, bringing new meaning to the
Merage School being a life-changing
experience!
merage.uci.edu/go/recruit
Join these companies
– and others – who
recognize the value of
the Merage School MBA
Abbott Medical Optics
Annawar Tun Company
Archbay Capital
AT&T
B&L International
Bloosky
Blue Shield
Boeing
BSH Home Appliances
California Stem Cell, Inc.
CET Cancer Center
Deloitte Consulting
Deloitte ERS
Deloitte, Japan
eBay
Enlight Pictures
Evident
Experian
Family Real Estate Business
GCV Violin Company
GD Commercial
Hackers Enterprise, Taiwan
HealthIQ
IBM
Inverted Code, Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
JOICO
Jones Lang LaSalle
Kaiser Permanente
Mattel
Morgan Stanley
Niagara Waters
Nlight Photonics
PaciRim InterTrade Inc.
Pacific Gas & Electric
Pamela Pharmaceuticals
Peak Virtual Accounting
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Redhill Consulting
Rosenow Spevacek Group
Samsung Electronics Korea
Silverpoint Investments
Southern California Edison
SRC
St. Joseph’s Hospital
University of Maryland
US Airways
Xelleration