Global Positioning: New Americas MBA for Executives program spans borders and cultures

Faculty Bob Whaley and Jacob Sagi are the brains behind NASDAQ’s new Alpha Indexes.

In chemistry, if you want to get a reaction, you have to find a way to bring the right molecules together and have them bump into each other with sufficient force. Sometimes you need a catalyst to get things started.

Dean
Jim Bradford
Editor
Seth Robertson
Contributors
Clark Bosslet, Nelson Bryan (BA’73), Tim Ghianni, Jennifer Johnston, Blake Knight, Casey Savell, Ryan Underwood (BA’96), Amy Wolf
Photography
Daniel Dubois, Steve Green, Joe Howell, Lauren Owens, Anne Rayner, John Russell, Susan Urmy
Designer
Michael T. Smeltzer
Art Director
Donna Pritchett
Executive Director of Marketing and Communications
Yvonne Martin-Kidd
Associate Dean of Development and Alumni Relations
Cheryl Chunn
Editorial Offices: Vanderbilt University, Office of [...]

The Global Business Association (GBA) and Japanese Business Club (JBC) joined efforts last October to send 34 students, Dean Jim Bradford and David Parsley, the E. Bronson Ingram Professor in Economics and Finance, on an excursion through Japan as part of the GBA’s third annual fall break trip.

New research by Bob Whaley, the Valere Blair Potter Professor of Management, and Jacob Sagi, the Vanderbilt Financial Markets Research Center Associate Professor of Finance, has led to the creation of a recently launched group of NASDAQ indexes. The NASDAQ OMX Alpha Indexes are designed to help investors measure performance between individual stocks and exchange-traded [...]

Market impact. It is part of the very fiber of Owen’s finance department. Members of the school’s finance faculty are not only contributing to the industry’s intellectual underpinnings and analytical tools but also training students who, as Vanderbilt alumni, are putting theory into practice worldwide.

Imagine going to see your dermatologist and leaving her office knowing you have several swollen lymph nodes. That is exactly what happened to me in early August 2009. I was told “run, don’t walk” to my primary care physician, which I did—the dermatologist’s office even called to make sure I had followed their directions.

With millions of new patients coming into the U.S. health care system over the next decade, the term “operations” is taking on a whole new meaning in America’s hospitals. Starting in the year 2014, as many as 32 million additional people will be covered by health insurance under the federal reform law passed last year. [...]

There was no single “aha” moment that convinced Kim Parlett, MBA’04, to leave her job at a marketing firm and embrace a more rustic way of life. Rather, she says, it was a series of realizations during a 2009 horse-packing trip through Yellowstone Park that helped her make up her mind.
“I was continually struck by [...]

A new mobile application called SmartFuel allows drivers to search for live gas prices along any route in the United States, find the cheapest price and save an average of $5 with every fill-up. SmartFuel provides this information by gathering credit card purchase data that is continuously updated.
That is just one of the features that [...]

The 2010 U.S. Congressional elections saw an unprecedented boom in campaign spending—$4 billion in all, with about $1.12 billion coming in the form of individual contributions to candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. While political pundits continue to debate what impact this money has on election outcomes, new research from the Owen School [...]

Sarah Trahern grew up in a home of divergent musical tastes. Her father used to sing old country standards to her in the crib, while her mother encouraged her to take classical violin lessons throughout childhood.

Try asking any Monday morning quarterback about blown fourth-down play calls in the NFL and you are guaranteed passionate opinions. In most fourth-down plays, an NFL team will punt or try for a field goal. But occasionally teams decide to do something that is viewed as risky—attempt a fourth-down conversion, or “go for it.”
Associate Professor [...]

When I was younger and trying to decide on a career path, I briefly thought of going into business for myself. It was an admirable, if short-lived, dream, but in retrospect I’m a little dismayed that I even considered it.

Generations of MBA graduates have mastered pricing models designed to evaluate companies based on capital assets like equipment, land and raw materials. But as the world economy shifts to one that increasingly places a premium on brainpower instead of horsepower, there are few, if any, reliable methods for analyzing the financial value of human capital.
To [...]

After many hours of travel down a long dirt road, Paul Dent, MBA’10, arrived at a secluded ranch scattered with rustic, wooden outbuildings. It may sound like the beginnings of a Western novel, but the setting, in fact, was one of the poorest regions of Cambodia.

NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. is introducing new indexes from Bob Whaley, the Valere Blair Potter Professor of Management and creator of the VIX volatility index, and Jacob Sagi, the Vanderbilt Financial Markets Research Center Associate Professor of Finance.

No pain, no gain. That was the core message of a strategic plan developed by a team of Vanderbilt Executive MBA students in 2009 for Aegis Sciences.

From Peru to Germany to India, Owen alumni around the world have supported the Admissions team’s efforts at B-school fairs. These alumni have played an important role in rallying support from other Owen graduates, relaying market-specific information that might improve recruiting strategy, hosting applicant gatherings, and representing the program at fairs. The Admissions team would [...]

This issue of Vanderbilt Business centers on two themes: (1) the amazing impact our finance faculty have made in the academic community and the financial markets, and (2) the entrepreneurial spark ignited in so many of our graduates by the Owen experience. It’s no coincidence the subjects are featured in the same issue. In fact, they share a common thread.

The CityOwen program is led by alumni around the country and provides value through networking opportunities, updates on the school and featured faculty or staff presentations. The program also helps strengthen the relationship between the Owen School and local communities in areas such as recruitment.
Birmingham
Jan. 26
Margaret and Jim Brunstad, both MBM’75, hosted a CityOwen Birmingham [...]

Christopher Parks found himself facing an all-too-common dilemma. He and his mother, who was in the midst of cancer treatments, were sitting in her living room going through a stack of her medical bills and those of his father, who had died recently.

The floodwaters that devastated Middle Tennessee in early May left their mark in more ways than one. The physical destruction was sudden and overwhelming: Lives were lost, and many homes and businesses were in ruins once the muddy water subsided.

Inspiration comes in many forms and often from unexpected sources. As business leaders we plan, budget and dream, yet we often don’t find the needed spark in the incremental day-to-day events of life.

CHAIR
Dr. William Frist, Partner, Cressey & Company
Dr. Bill Bates, President and CEO, digiChart
Jack Bovender Jr., Chairman, HCA
Ron Calhoun, President, The Remi Group
Rep. Jim Cooper, 5th District, U.S. House of Representatives
Richard Cowart, Partner, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
Deke Ellwanger, Former President, HealthSpring
Catherine Gemmato-Smith, Managing Director, Jefferies & Co.
Roberta Goodman, Health Care Analyst, Health Care Analytics
Joel [...]

When asked about his role as Global Brand Strategist at Intel Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of microprocessors, Bryan Deaner, MBA’93, cannot help but talk about the future. His job, after all, is to look ahead from 18 months to 2018 and decide, in conjunction with Intel’s other strategists and planners, how best to manage [...]

This past summer marketing professionals and academics gathered at Owen for the 2010 Advertising and Consumer Psychology Conference, titled “Cracking the Code: How Managers Can Drive Profits by Leveraging Principles of Consumer Psychology.” The conference attendees heard presentations on state-­of­-the­-art managerial consumer advice and reviews of up-­to-­the-­minute research on consumer behavior with the goal of [...]

Recession or not, there is a constant need for public accountants. Likewise there is a need for graduate-­level accounting programs to fill this demand. Yet, while many of these programs only seek applicants with undergraduate accounting degrees, Vanderbilt’s yearlong Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program takes a decidedly different approach. The high-performing individuals who enroll in [...]

“Baking is all about chemistry,” says Lindsay Beckner, who co-owns FiddleCakes, a Nashville-based bakery, cafe and catering business that can accommodate box lunches for 30 or cupcakes for 500.

A few years ago Karla Diehl started a nightly ritual of serving tea to her family.

“Do you think it’s possible that he put diesel in the tank instead of petrol?”

Ray Sumner, MBA’10, woke up in a bed with white sheets. He recognized his mother, who was holding his right hand. She had traveled from their family farm on Staten Island to keep vigil at his bedside in Bethesda Naval Hospital.

In 2009 a team of Vanderbilt graduate and undergraduate students visiting rural Bangladesh made a startling observation.

The Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management ranks No. 25 among executive MBA programs in The Wall Street Journal’s new survey of national business schools. On management skills and alumni satisfaction—key components of the overall rankings—Owen is No. 17 and No. 18, respectively.