s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 0 6 years 11 · ceo, westaff inc. carol bartz ceo, autodesk inc....

11 Years

MEG WHITMANCEO, eBay

TRISH NEWMANCEO, Westaff Inc.

CAROL BARTZCEO, Autodesk Inc.

MARION SANDLERCo-CEO, Golden West Financial Corporation

ELIZABETH MclaughlinCEO, Hot Topic Inc.

Lisa harperChairman and CEO, Gymboree Corporation

S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 0 6

The Innovator is published by the UC Davis Graduate School of Management to inform alumni and the business and academic communities about the programs and activities at the School.

deanNicole Woolsey Biggart

associate deanRichard P. Castanias

assistant dean – student aFFaiRsJames R. Stevens

assistant dean – exteRnal Relations and development Rissa V. Spears

managing editoR Timothy Akin Director of Marketing and Communications

associate editoR Marianne Skoczek

contRiButing editoRs Shannon Tanguay Director of Alumni Relations

Jacqueline Romo Associate Director of Project Management Resources

contRiButing WRiteRs Cindi Rich, Trina Wood

design Page Design, Inc.

photogRaphYAxiom Photo Design

The GSM Community

Please direct correspondence to:

innovatoRGraduate School of ManagementUniversity of California, Davis One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616-8609

(530) 752-7362FAX (530) 752-2924

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WeB

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/Innovator

The current and back issues of the Innovator are available online.

On the cover: Of the 200 largest public companies headquartered in California, just six were led by women CEOs at the time the survey was completed. Since then, two have stepped down and been replaced by men and another will soon leave after the company is sold. The six are (from top left): Carol Bartz, CEO, Autodesk Inc. (became executive chairman in May); Trish Newman, CEO, Westaff Inc.; Meg Whitman, CEO, eBay; Lisa Harper, chairman and CEO, Gymboree Corp. (now chief creative officer); Elizabeth McLaughlin, CEO, Hot Topic Inc.; and Marion Sandler, co-CEO, Golden West Financial Corp. (will cede her CEO role after pending purchase by Wachovia Corp.).

dean’s message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

cover story UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders . . .2

Faculty Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Katrina Ellis Takes Stock of Corporate Governance and Performance

distinguished speakers Cisco Chairman Champions Corporate Citizenship . . . . . .6Customer Service: Mission Critical to Building Business . . .8

school newsNew UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center Launches . . . . . .5Executive-in-Residence: Sotiris Kolokotronis . . . . . . . . .10Leadership that Works: Third Annual Peer-to-Pier Event . . 11Alumni and Students Shine at Annual Gala . . . . . . . . 12Students Make an Even Greater “Net Impact” . . . . . . . 16GSM Team Makes Finals of Global Citizenship Challenge . . 17MBA Challenge for Charity Continues to Thrive . . . . . . 18Big Bang!: Ensembles and Mesolytics Share Winners Circle in UC Davis Business Plan Competition . . . . . 20Corbetts Designate Fellowship for Big Bang! . . . . . . . . 23Brazil and Argentina: A Journey to Two Worlds . . . . . . .24 Confirming the CalPERS Effect: GSM Study Links Shareowner Activism to Big Financial Gains . . . .34

news ticker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28“Looking Back, Moving Forward”: 25th Anniversary Kick-Off

UC Davis Wine Executive Program Attracts Globetrotting Attendees

Clients Praise MBA Consulting Center Projects

Financial Times Ranks UC Davis MBA Program in Top 50 in U .S .

Assistant Dean Claudine Thompson Retires After 36 Years

GSM Briefcase Brigade Marches On

in appreciationReza Abbaszadeh’s Generosity Opens New Opportunity . . .31

student spotlightsSharma Takes the Time to Fashion the Perfect Career . . . 32Guerra Finds Bay Area MBA Program a Perfect Fit . . . . 33

Faculty ResearchFaculty Research Popularity Ranks Among Top 50 U .S . Business Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Davis Conference on Qualitative Research Draws International Scholars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

alumni associationLet’s Do Business: Alumni Strategic Provider Network . . .40Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Calendar of Alumni Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Back coverU.S.News & World Report: Eleven Years in the Top 50

in this issUe • sPrinG/sUMMer 2006

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 1

This spring I had a rare opportunity to travel to

Europe and the Middle East, including a week

teaching organizational behavior in Sardinia

and attending the international dean’s conference in

Paris held by AACSB International (the primary associ-

ation of business schools worldwide). The highlight of

the adventure, however, was three days in Iran to visit

Sharif University of Technology in Tehran.

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management was

fortunate this year to receive a gift that will support

six visiting international students to study with us

for a quarter. Following the AACSB conference in

Paris at the end April, I traveled to Iran with Dr. Reza

Abbaszadeh, who is the benefactor of the program

and CEO of Premier Access Insurance Company in

Sacramento (see related story page 31) .

In Tehran we met with business students and spent

time with the president of Sharif University and his

top administrative team of deans and vice presidents.

We agreed on the importance of continued contact

and discussed possible future trips. We hope that the

diplomatic doors will open to our proposed student

exchange, a small effort but perhaps a doable one

given the current political situation.

Reza and I interviewed 12 candidates for the student

exchange—four women and eight men who are com-

pleting their first MBA year. Like our MBA students,

they have work experience as industrial engineers, in

operations and construction project management, and

other careers that employ their technology training.

They have worked in both large and small firms. One

is a passionate pianist and cello player. Another has

played on the national basketball team. They expressed

their frustration with the level of management skills

at their places of work and often cited that as their

reason for pursuing an MBA.

Sharif University, which is often referred to as the

CalTech or MIT of Iran, is based on the U.S. model

of higher education. The faculty members are largely

U.S.-trained, they use the top U.S. textbooks and cases,

and all instruction is in English. It is not surprising

that the students want to personally experience the

sources of their education.

They use the language of modern business and talk

about SWOT diagrams, CRM, supply chains and

performance appraisal systems. Some have nearly

memorized the Graduate School of Management’s

Web site and recite our professors’ research and the

activities of our student clubs.

I was so moved by this yearning

to experience, even briefly, our

daily life. I am eager to see what

will happen when the words in

our texts and the pictures on

Voice of America television

become real in a new way.

I do know that business is a

powerful institutional force

globally. It organizes interests

and dreams, whether in Italy

or Iran, and assists or thwarts

their realization depending on

the social and political structures

in place.

“Peace Through Commerce” is a new initiative of the

AACSB International that was embraced at the Paris

conference. Perhaps trade and exchange can play a role

in stabilizing global relations.

I also know that personal commitment makes the

difference, not polemics. I am determined to try.

I am indebted to the generosity and tenacity of Reza,

whose vision made our trip possible. He has invested

his time, contacts and money in hopes of giving

Iranian and U.S. students the opportunity to learn

from each other.

On this trip I made a new and valued friend in Reza,

whose example will inspire me to do more and better.

Nicole Woolsey Biggart Dean Jerome J . and Elsie Suran Chair in Technology Management

To read more about the trip, see my blog @

In Tehran, two of my tour

guides were Elham Moore

(middle) and Azin Arya (right),

two bright, young women

finishing their engineering

degrees at Sharif University of

Technology. We hope to host

six exchange students from

Sharif in the UC Davis MBA

program starting this fall.

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2 • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

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stUDy finDs WoMen larGely aBsent

froM BoarDrooMs, exeCUtive sUites

at California’s toP PUBliC CoMPanies

A woman sits in only one of

every 10 chairs at the board-

room tables and executive

desks of California’s 200 largest

publicly traded companies, and that

means a missed opportunity for

business, according to a ground-

breaking study released in February

by the UC Davis Graduate School

of Management.

In the first study of its kind to take

a critical look at the participation

of women in corporate leadership

in California, the researchers found

women hold only 10.2 percent of the

combined board seats and highest-

paid executive officer positions.

Specifically, they occupy only 202

seats, or 11.4 percent, of the 1,771

board seats and, at 8.2 percent, an

even smaller proportion of the

1,006 executive slots.

“The 2005 UC Davis Study of

California Women Business

Leaders” was co-authored by

Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart,

Professor Kimberly Elsbach

and Assistant Professor

Katrina Ellis. They were surprised

that California isn’t leading the

way for women in business.

Biggart said they had expected

California, the world’s eighth-

largest economy and a

“trailblazer in social trends,”

to be at the forefront of

corporate leadership. “The same innovative

thinking that drives the state’s economy is not

propelling women into key leadership positions

in business,” she said.

The School released the study results on February

9 at a standing-room-only gathering of business

leaders, elected officials and media in downtown

Sacramento. The study garnered widespread coverage

in major newspapers and news wires and on

television and radio.

GooD BUsiness sense

At a time when corporate leadership is being held

to a higher level of accountability, the study’s authors

say greater representation of women makes good

business sense.

“Bringing more women into the boardroom and

executive ranks—providing a diversity of talents

and ways of framing decisions—will result in more

diverse and profitable businesses and create a

stronger economy,” Biggart said.

Ellis, a professor of finance, pointed to two recent

studies that show businesses do better when

women share in the key leadership positions.

A 2004 study by Catalyst, a national non-profit

organization working to advance women in business,

found a connection between gender diversity and

strong financial performance and good corporate

governance. In other research, published in The

Financial Review in 2003, three researchers from

Oklahoma State University found that board

diversity is related to higher shareholder value.

“When you bring in different viewpoints, companies

can develop a better strategy because they can

approach a problem more creatively,” Ellis said.

Biggart, a professor of organizational behavior

who studies economic networks, said government

reforms, including the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act,

are compelling businesses to include external

directors who are independent and who add to

the diversity of perspectives on their boards.

The researchers used Standard & Poor’s data to

identify the top 200 companies headquartered in

California by net revenue for fiscal year-end

Top: Co-authors of the study (left to right) are Assistant Professor Katrina Ellis, Professor

Kimberly Elsbach and Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart .

Bottom: At an event announcing the study, state Senator Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/

San Mateo) tells reporters that the findings set a new benchmark for advancing women

and California business itself . “The growth of women in executive offices and boardrooms

is slow as molasses,” she said . “The good news is that some companies here in California

recognize that women have great value .”

— Dean niCole Woolsey BiGGart, Co-aUthor

of the “UC Davis stUDy of California

WoMen BUsiness leaDers”

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • �

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/census

Trish Newman, CEO of Westaff, accepts an award

from UC Davis Graduate School of Management

Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart . Westaff is ranked

third among California public companies in the

“UC Davis Study of California Women Business

Leaders,” which ranks corporations according to their

inclusion of women in top decision-making positions .

reporting from June 2003 through May 2004.

They then compiled information about directors

and the five highest-paid executives from the

companies’ Securities and Exchange Commission

filings through August 2005.

shatterinG the Glass CeilinG

The study identified 25 companies that have

more than 20 percent women directors and

executive officers. The study’s authors said these

25 can serve as role models, and the Graduate

School of Management recognized them with

awards at the February event.

At the top is Oakland-based Golden West

Financial Corporation, parent company of World

Savings, which is the only company in the state

with an equal number of women and men in

executive and board positions. But it will not call

California home much longer. North Carolina–

based Wachovia Corp. recently agreed to purchase

Golden West in a $26 billion deal.

At the February event, Elsbach moderated a panel

of three leaders from the top 25 companies that

included Maryellen Herringer, a board director

for Golden West; Trish Newman, CEO of Westaff

Inc.; and Robert Crouch, a senior vice president

with Wells Fargo Bank. They said leaders must

send a strong message that all workers will be

treated equally.

“The Golden State is not a land of golden opportunity for women who want to be in the top decision-making positions in our corporations . This is a missed opportunity for California business .”

“We always give women the same training, the

same opportunity and the same pay level as

men,” Herringer said.

Elsbach, who studies leadership and organizational

behavior, said getting women promoted to the

top is a challenge. “Part of the difficulty comes

from the culture of companies that don’t provide

women with opportunities to develop the skills or

gain the experience they need to move up,” she said.

a Catalyst for ChanGe

The authors will conduct the study annually to

measure how women’s roles in corporate gover-

nance and executive leadership change over time.

To advocate for greater gender diversity and help

companies identify qualified women for top-level

openings, the Graduate School of Management

has formed an alliance with the Forum for

Women Entrepreneurs and Executives (FWE&E),

a Silicon Valley–based international organization

aimed at accelerating women’s opportunities to start,

manage and invest in market-leading companies.

As partners, the FWE&E and the GSM have joined

the InterOrganization Network (ION). Formed in

2004, ION is a consortium of regional organizations

in seven states and cities that publish similar

annual reports on the status of women directors

and executive officers. ION members leverage

their strengths and influence to increase women’s

representation in corporate leadership.

“We’re just starting to think about what needs to

be changed to make things more equal,” said

Ellis. “There is a lot of potential for future research

on why women are not moving into these

positions. We’re looking forward to working

with the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and

Executives. As women executives, they’re on the

front lines.”

stUDy QUiCK faCts*

• Women hold only 10.2% of the board seats and highest-paid executive officer positions in the 200 largest public companies headquartered in California.

• Fifty five—more than 27%—of these 200 compa-nies have no women board directors and no women executive officers.

• Just over one-third of the corporations have no women board members

• More than two-thirds of the 200 top public companies in California have no women executive officers.

• Only six of the 200 largest public companies in California are led by women CEOs.

• Health care sector has the highest percentage of women directors at 16.1%. The semiconductor industry has the lowest percentage of women directors with 5.5%.

• Retail has the highest per-centage of women executive officers, at 15.1%. The con-sumer goods sector has no women executive officers.

• Size matters. Larger compa-nies have a greater number and greater proportion of women board members than do smaller companies.

* As of August 2005, from data compiled from company proxy statements and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

— assistant Professor Katrina ellis

� • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

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Katrina EllisAs the results of the “UC Davis Study of California Women

Business Leaders” became clear, co-author Assistant

Professor Katrina Ellis felt a sense of disappointment.

“We aren’t any different from anywhere else in the country,” she

says. “I had hoped that California was more progressive as far as

opportunities for women in leadership,

but that wasn’t the case.”

A finance specialist, Ellis is known for

her research into the complicated world

of IPOs, or initial public offerings. The

women in leadership study presented a

rare opportunity to look in greater depth

at a smaller number of companies than

her research usually involves. And like

her co-authors, Dean Nicole Woolsey

Biggart and Professor Kimberly Elsbach,

she felt strongly that the dismally low

numbers of women in top-level executive

positions and serving on boards of

directors should be publicized, and that

the data be tracked annually.

Ellis, who received her Ph.D. in finance

from Cornell University in 2000, has

taught at the Graduate School of

Management for five years. During this

time she has earned high marks from

students—and has profited from the

rich and nurturing research environment

UC Davis offers.

Ellis’ early research focused on the role

of investment banks in promoting IPOs

and bringing them to market. Today

finance scholars are more interested in long-term trends.

“We’ve come to realize that investment banks are not passive

intermediaries; they have their own motivations, and their

actions can influence pricing and trading,” Ellis explains. One

area of current research lies in the first-day underpricing of

shares. “The standard theory of financial markets is that this

persistent mis-pricing shouldn’t happen,” she says. “Traditional

models assume that the market is efficient and the investment

banks should be able to get the price right. So why don’t they?”

Her efforts to answer this and other key questions have led

Ellis into innovative, cross-disciplinary collaborations. She

and Assistant Professor Michelle Yetman are exploring whether

and to what extent investor sentiment affects IPO price. With

Assistant Professor William Gebhardt she is analyzing stock

price responses to earnings announcements.

“Our School has a diverse pool of younger

faculty, which makes for an energetic

research environment,” Ellis notes.

She is also working with researchers at

the University of Notre Dame and the

University of Texas at Austin to empiri-

cally examine whether the magnitude

of IPO underpricing is related to capital-

gains taxes.

In the classroom Ellis has become known

for her highly demanding and equally

rewarding electives in financial management

and investment analysis. This summer

she’ll offer an entrepreneurial finance

course in the School’s Bay Area MBA

program. Like her financial management

course, it will be case-based and is sure

to generate a lot of in-class debate.

“Did the company make the right deci-

sions? There is no perfect answer, but the

discussions we have around this question

are invaluable,” she explains. “By the end

of the quarter the students are able to run

the numbers. But more than that, they

know how to read the story behind the

numbers: how does looking at a company’s

finances translate into its strategy or the decisions its managers

should make?”

Assistant Professor Katrina Ellis’ most recent paper, “Who Trades

IPOs? A Close Look at the First Days of Trading” was published

in February in the Journal of Financial Economics.

“We’ve come to realize that

investment banks are

not passive intermediaries;

they have their own

motivations, and their

actions can influence

pricing and trading .”

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/faculty/research/spring2005.htm#ellis

— associate pRoFessoR andReW haRgadon, FoUnDInG DIrECTor, UC DAvIS EnErGy EFFICIEnCy CEnTEr

GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 5


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Center Will Shine New Light on Energy Efficiency Efforts, EntrepreneurshipassoCiate Professor anDreW harGaDon naMeD foUnDinG DireCtor

The founding director of the new UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center,

Associate Professor Andrew Hargadon (right), says the center will bring

together scientists, engineers, venture capitalists and manufacturers dedicated

to speeding new energy-saving products and services to market . At the April

12 campus event to launch the center, Hargadon is flanked by Gov . Arnold

Schwarzenegger, state Assemblymember Alan Nakanishi (R-Lodi) and

UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef .

With a power-saving natural

ventilation system overhead

and state-of-the-art radiant

floor slabs underfoot, California Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Chancellor

Larry Vanderhoef and environmental,

industry and government leaders at UC

Davis on April 12 to celebrate the launch

of the world’s leading university center of

excellence in energy efficiency.

Founding director of the UC Davis Energy

Efficiency Center Andrew Hargadon,

an associate professor and director of

technology management programs at the

Graduate School of Management, said the

center will be dedicated to speeding the

transfer of new energy-saving products and

services to market. The center will focus

on three areas that use the most energy

in California: transportation, homes and

other buildings, and agriculture and food processing.

“There have been 30 years of energy efficiency research, but

they’ve lacked business models,” Hargadon said. “This center

will show how businesses can make money by saving energy.

This is the last mile between researchers’ work and its impact

on society.”

The location of the launch event showcased design and

construction innovations the Energy Efficiency Center will

emphasize. When completed, Gladys Valley Hall will be the

first building at UC Davis designed and built to achieve

certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership

in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. The hall

will be the heart of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

The center will expand the Graduate School

of Management’s existing business development

education and entrepreneurial programs in

partnership with the College of Engineering,

the Institute of Transportation Studies, the

California Biomass Collaborative, the California

Lighting Technology Center, and the UC Office

of Research’s Technology and Industry Alliances.

The center will also partner with the private

sector and public agencies.

Hargadon tapped GSM alumnus Benjamin

Finkelor ’04 to be the center’s program manager.

Finkelor most recently served as interim executive

director of CleanStart, a Sacramento business

incubator that supports clean-technology ven-

tures. “The center is just the tip of the iceberg

for the university’s capabilities and movement

towards an interdisciplinary, campus-wide focus

on the larger issues surrounding sustainability,”

Finkelor said.

The Energy Efficiency Center was founded with a $1 million

grant from the California Clean Energy Fund, a $30 million

non-profit, public benefit corporation established in 2004 out

of the PG&E bankruptcy settlement. The university will match the

grant with $1.3 million in operating and research funds, faculty

time, and office and laboratory space. PG&E Corporation pledged

$500,000 over five years to fund fellowships and other initiatives.

“The effective management of energy costs is increasingly

important as companies strive to maintain a competitive edge,”

Hargadon said. “The center looks forward to helping California

businesses measure and mitigate these costs, and manage the

competitive risks associated with energy price volatility.”

http://eec.ucdavis.edu

“This center will change the

way we study energy

efficiency, the way we teach it,

and the ways in which

we work together with the

public and private sectors to

develop real and lasting

innovations in energy.

Keep an eye on us.”

“It is our obligation to respond as a good corporate citizen in every community that we are in.” — John MorGriDGe, ChairMan, CisCo systeMs

CisCo ChairMan John MorGriDGe ChaMPions CorPorate CitizenshiP


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At Cisco Systems, Good Deeds Boost the Bottom Line

The avalanche of accounting and fraud scandals that

have shaken corporate America in recent years have

made it painfully and publicly clear: for some, the

end can justify unethical and even illegal means if the

stakes are high enough.

Away from the white-hot media spotlight, however, others

have forged another way, placing principles at the core of

all enterprise. These companies embrace a culture that values

and acts on an ingrained sense of corporate responsibility.

As Enron’s dark shadow lengthened last winter with its

past two CEOs headed to trial, John Morgridge, chairman

and former CEO of Cisco Systems, discussed a much

worthier—and more profitable—path. Morgridge visited

UC Davis in January as a Dean’s Distinguished Speaker

for the Graduate School of Management.

After meeting with campus officials and regional business

leaders about higher education, research and technology,

Morgridge began his talk at the Mondavi Center by paying

homage to “great research universities” like UC Davis and

Stanford University, where he received his MBA and the

alma mater of Cisco’s founders.

Top-tier research institutions, he said, are “unique

companies” filled with “cheap labor willing to work on

ideas others don’t think are worthy of effort.” This work

has led to innovations and knowledge that today drive

the world’s economy. Over the past 20 to 30 years, for

example, powerful academic-corporate partnerships have

fueled California’s technology explosion and its

accompanying prosperity.

GivinG BaCK to the CoMMUnity

Morgridge helped build Cisco and its culture from the

ground up. He joined the company as president and CEO

in 1988. Initially funded by the founders’ credit cards

and second mortgage, Cisco went public in 1990 under

Morgridge. During his tenure, the company grew from $5

million in annual sales to more than $1 billion. He was

appointed chairman in 1995. Today the San Jose–based

company is the world’s leading supplier of networking

equipment and network management for the Internet,

with almost $25 billion in annual revenues and 48,300

employees worldwide.

Cisco’s success, Morgridge argued, is intricately tied to its

corporate culture, one that from the beginning has disdained

waste and has valued frugality, customer service, ethical

leadership and a commitment to giving back.

In discussing the need for principled leadership, Morgridge

cited a recent study of 25 Silicon Valley executives that

explored how each developed their “moral compass.” Not

surprisingly, parental guidance—not so much what parents

say, but how they act—is critical. Later, observation of

professional mentors plays a similar role. Other major

influences include education and early work experiences,

and having a sense of community that sets standards and

provides boundaries.

Culture—an organization’s beliefs and behaviors—Morgridge

noted, evolves from many sources; if not consciously planned

it “will happen without shaping.” Philanthropy has been

a deliberate part of Cisco’s culture since its days as a

fledgling start-up.

“We gave back when we were below the radar, and it became

part of our organization,” he explained. Shortly after

Cisco’s current president and CEO, John Chambers, joined

the company, Morgridge approached him with a request

for a donation to Stanford. Chambers readily agreed but,

added Morgridge, probably thought the requested amount

a little excessive. It was 10 percent of his net worth.

“It is our obligation to respond as a good corporate citizen in every community that we are in.” — John MorGriDGe, ChairMan, CisCo systeMs


At Cisco Systems, Good Deeds Boost the Bottom Line

In 1984 the company was headquartered in East Menlo

Park, Calif., next door to the underfunded and struggling

Costano Elementary School. Cisco employees literally

jumped the fence and got to work, painting walls and

cleaning the schoolyard. Cisco’s support soon expanded

into a partnership of mentoring and working with teachers

and administrators to accomplish long-term objectives—

and the donation of a fully networked computer lab.

Within 10 years Costano students boasted some of the

highest test scores in the district.

Forced to downsize during the dot-com bust in 2001,

Cisco created the Community Fellowship Program, offering

employees full benefits and partial pay for a year’s service at

a local non-profit. Today Cisco workers can put their skills

and knowledge to work for a year at one of 20 partner

organizations that include numerous schools, Habitat for

Humanity, Save the Children and Second Harvest Food

Bank. The company also provided human and material

resources to Indonesia in 2004 following the deadly

tsunami, and sent employees to Louisiana and Mississippi

in the wake of last fall’s disastrous hurricanes.

“It is our obligation to respond as a good corporate citizen

in every community that we are in,” Morgridge explained.

This response capitalizes on the “sweet spot” between

profit-driven business objectives and philanthropic giving.

The sweet spot only exists and is sustainable, he said,

when a company’s “doing good” benefits both parties. For

Cisco, computer-savvy communities provide an immediate

market for its products and a more diverse pool of

potential employees.

As the company’s reputation and bottom line clearly show,

Morgridge’s sweet spot does indeed exist—and Cisco’s

found it.

finDinG the “sWeet sPot”

The success at Costano compelled Cisco to develop other

education-related programs. The Networking Academy

program—a partnership between Cisco, education, business,

government and community organizations around the

world—is a comprehensive e-learning program that provides

students with critical Internet technology skills. Launched

in the U.S. in 1997, the academy has spread to 97,000

institutions in 165 countries, and has more than one

million graduates. Today almost half a million students

are enrolled. Because of the good will and positive image

it has generated, Morgridge called the program “probably

our most successful marketing campaign, and we never

intended it to be.” It is one reason why Cisco dominates

the education market.

Today Cisco’s philanthropic efforts include an online math

program that was initially developed for 100 schools in

the Kingdom of Jordan. This program was later the basis

for Cisco’s 21st Century School Initiative, a $40 million

commitment of cash, equipment and services to Gulf Coast

schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

www.news.ucdavis.edu/multimedia

To view web video of John Morgridge’s presentation, visit:


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Customer serviCe: mission Critical to Building Business

At a Business Partner breakfast in February, a panel of top executives shared insights about the importance of customer service . (Left to right:) Tom Villa, vice president of customer operations, SureWest Communications; Roger Valine, CEO, Vision Service Plan; and John Onsum, president and CEO, First Northern Bank .

High-quality customer service has

become mission critical in today’s

competitive markets . How well firms

foster strong customer relationships, loyalty and

affinity often can make or break their ability to

grow the business—and generate profits .

At a Business Partner breakfast on February 28 at the Graduate

School of Management’s One Capitol Mall suite in Sacramento,

Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart moderated a panel discussion

featuring John Onsum, president and CEO of First Northern Bank;

Roger Valine, CEO of Vision Service Plan; and Tom Villa, vice

president of customer operations for SureWest Communications .

The companies are members of the Business Partnership Program .

Peppered with questions from Dean Biggart and the capacity

audience, Onsum, Valine and Villa each shared how building

their company’s business around high-quality customer service

reinforces the company’s brand and differentiates it in the market .

“that’s My BanK”

As a locally owned, community bank, First Northern Bank lives

and breathes customer service. Established in 1910, First Northern

serves Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, El Dorado and Placer Counties.

In a market ripe with mounting pressure from products and

positioning by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Washington Mutual

and other giants, the relatively small bank has created a niche

by being passionate about personal attention.

Even down to its company slogan—“That’s My Bank”—and

its web address of the same name, First Northern’s brand and

reputation are tied to individualized service and concern for

its customers’ financial well-being. Onsum has carried that

torch since he started at the bank as a management trainee

in 1972, fresh out of UC Davis. He has been president and

CEO since 1997.

Unlike customers of many big banks, whose phone experiences

are shaped by call centers and voice mail menus, First Northern

customers can call any of its 11 branches during business hours

and be greeted by an actual person at the branch who can answer

questions or direct the call.

Mystery shoppers visit and phone the branches frequently to

confirm the quality of customer service. In addition, Onsum

meets regularly with retail and business customers at dinners

dubbed ‘Table for Eight,’ where he asks about their experience

banking at First Northern and how it might be improved.

“It’s an opportunity to interact with our best customers and

we get incredibly valuable feedback,” Onsum said.

Onsum described how each employee—from tellers, to loan

officers to the management team—is viewed as a front-line

customer service representative. “We encourage our employees

to be shareholders, and we give them incentives to invest,” he

said. “It creates a personal attachment to the bank’s success. It’s

as though they have their name on the door when the customer

comes in.”

The strategy has paid dividends for both the company and

its vested employees. First Northern’s stock is up more than

140 percent over the past two years, and the bank recently

announced record earnings of $2.4 million for the first quarter

of 2006, up 42 percent over the same period last year. Now,

that’s money in the bank.

“Our customers are our neighbors . We need to know them, and we do . Customer service is at the core of our company strategy and has been for a long time .”

—toM villa, viCe PresiDent

of CUstoMer oPerations,

sUreWest CoMMUniCations

“Our ‘Table for Eight’ dinners offer an opportunity to interact with our best customers, and we get incredibly valuable feedback .”

—John onsUM, PresiDent

& Ceo, first northern BanK


GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • �

Customer serviCe: mission Critical to Building Business

“In today’s world you have to offer better than just ‘good’ customer service . You have to be easy to do business with .”

—roGer valine, Ceo, vision serviCe Plan

GoinG aBove anD BeyonD = rx for sUCCess

As chief executive officer of Vision Service Plan, Roger Valine

has focused the Rancho Cordova–based company on customers’

experience so intensely that every employee sees their success

and that of the company through the same lens.

The nation’s largest provider of eye-care wellness benefits,

Vision Service Plan has 46 million members nationwide; one

in seven people rely on VSP for eye-care health coverage. VSP

has contracts with 25,000 clients, including 228 of the 2005

Fortune 500 companies, and serves a network of 23,000 doctors

nationwide. Under Valine’s leadership since 1992, VSP’s annual

revenue has grown from $440 million to $2.2 billion; for the

past seven years it has been named one of Fortune magazine’s

“100 Best Companies to Work for in America.”

Happy, motivated employees have made the difference, according

to Valine. The company encourages its 500 customer service

representatives to go the extra mile—even if it means bending

company policy. “They have complete authority to please the

customer,” Valine said.

Not surprisingly, for the second consecutive year, J.D. Power

and Associates has ranked VSP “Highest in Overall Member

Satisfaction Among National Vision Plans.”

VSP’s commitment to the customer experience is intricately

woven into employee compensation and manager bonuses. A

division within VSP measures “customer delight” by surveying

external and internal constituencies. Only “very good” and

“excellent” responses count toward annual goals.

ConneCtinG With voiCe, viDeo anD Data

The reality is pretty simple for Tom Villa, who heads

customer care, collections, installations and repair for SureWest

Communications, a publicly traded telecommunications

company headquartered in Roseville.

“Our customers are our neighbors,” Villa summed up. “We

need to know them, and we do. Customer service is at the

core of our company strategy and has been for a long time.”

SureWest offers a triple play of voice, video and data services

in the greater Sacramento region, one of the nation’s most

competitive telecom markets. SureWest goes head-to-head

against heavyweights with national footprints like AT&T,

Comcast, Verizon and Cingular to attract and keep customers

who expect 100 percent reliability and prompt resolution of

any service problems. “Our niche in the region is customer

service,” Villa explained.

Villa said that customer experience management—providing

a unique level of service to various customer segments—has

been “a huge issue at SureWest” since the company culture

has been to provide incredible “customer service at any cost.”

But, he added, customers are not alike (i.e., business vs.

residential), and the 20/80 rule that 20 percent of customers

generate 80 percent of profits is changing attitudes.

He announced that SureWest was outsourcing its 411 information

service for the first time in the company’s 92-year history.

“Others can do that better than us,” Villa said, adding that

those hired in the Philippines have college degrees and strong

communication skills.

Technology and its complex support structure continue to change

the telecom landscape, triggering the need for more personable,

versatile and highly skilled customer service representatives who

are familiar with databases.

Villa said universities play a more important role than ever in

educating customer care experts of today and for tomorrow.

“The complexity of interactions with customers will dictate it,”

he noted. “From an education standpoint, the stakes have gone

up dramatically.”


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DeveloPinG a strateGiC vision for saCraMento’s fUtUre

Executive-in-Residence Sotiris Kolokotronis Urges More Smart Growth

An electric scooter

stands ready

inside his real

estate development

office, and he hugs the

corners around midtown

Sacramento behind the

wheel of a racing green

Mini Cooper, living out the

car’s catchy ‘Let’s Motor’

lifestyle ads that ask us to

“conserve space as well as

fuel” and to “leave a small footprint

and an even smaller tire track.”

Offering an antidote to suburban sprawl around the state

capital, developer Sotiris Kolokotronis has been preaching

about and putting the principles of smart growth into action.

He’s focused on building high-density, mixed-use housing that

preserves open space, reduces the need for commuting, and

cuts traffic and smog.

Melding retail and residential, Kolokotronis’ infill projects—

such as his planned L Street Lofts and the innovative Fremont

Building—are credited with leading the renaissance of urban

living in the core of the city.

As the Graduate School of Management’s Executive-in-

Residence this spring, Kolokotronis taught a quarter-long MBA

course on real estate development, drawing on his two decades

of experience. Since 1987 he has managed 70 partnerships and

joint ventures in a portfolio valued at more than $600 million,

and land acquisitions and sales topping $200 million.

His course won rave reviews from students as Kolokotronis

shared his wisdom while tapping his network of influential

decision makers to talk about California’s growth-management

issues and progressive developments. His guest speakers includ-

ed other high-profile developers, environmental activists, senior

government and elected officials, land-use attorneys, financiers

and affordable housing advocates.

Being active and engaged in the community is a way of life for

Kolokotronis. He is involved in many civic, cultural, political and

philanthropic organizations. Last year he was honored with one

of Comstock’s Business Magazine’s John P. Carlson Vanguard

Awards, which recognize corporate citizens who enhance the

Sacramento region’s quality of life. His firm, SKK

Developments, earned the Sacramento Area Council of

Governments’ 2005 Regional Business of the Year Award.

As the featured speaker at the GSM’s Business Partner

breakfast on May 9, Kolokotronis offered his perspec-

tive of Sacramento’s future, which he said is tied to

creating “attractive places to live, work, shop and play.”

Kolokotronis said the complexities of smart growth

projects present many challenges for local developers.

“It’s going to take some time in our market to put together teams

of architects, planners, building officials and financiers to do a

better job of bringing these developments along faster and in

more efficient ways,” he explained.

Kolokotronis stressed the critical role infill projects play in

meeting the urgent need for good-quality, affordable housing

for lower income families and disabled people.

He said the common denominator in cities where progressive

development thrives has been collaborative planning that brings

the public and private sectors together as partners rather than

as adversaries.

Kolokotronis praised the work of Sacramento area political

and business leaders who are mapping a blueprint for regional

transportation and land use, and crafting a business plan that

leverages the region’s unique strengths.

Yet Kolokotronis said there’s a much bigger picture to consider.

He said Sacramento is the epicenter of a “Northern California

super region,” which taken together with San Francisco represents

the nation’s third largest metropolitan statistical area, with

more than 10 million people and a gross regional product

above a half trillion dollars.

“We need to look at it as a larger, linked community that spans

from the Pacific to the Sierras and up and down the Valley,” he

said. “It’s the key to our future growth.”

“We are the wealthiest society in the world and we have an obligation to provide housing for all of our people . We need to come up with smart ways to do that, including using the existing infrastructure .”—sacramento developer sotiris Kolokotronis, 2006 executive-in-residence

Leadership that Works

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 11UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 11

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thirD annUal Peer-to-Pier event offers insiGht

Leadership that Works

Daytime MBA student

Aimee Waldman

learns more from

panelist David Petroni

about his expertise in

mergers and acquisitions

as well as his hobby of

drawing cartoons .

How important is creativity

in empowering leadership?

Alumna Jennifer Vogt ’03

continues the discussion with

Pixar University’s Randy

Nelson . Vogt is a senior internal

auditor at Hewlett-Packard .

Panelist David Petroni

(front) explains that a

leader’s skills, knowledge,

experience and personality

must match the particular

needs of a company at a

specific time in its history .

Panelist Grove Nichols,

executive vice president of

IndyMac Bank, trades

ideas over wine with Bay

Area MBA students Regis

Geisler (left) and Ben

Dakhlia (right) .

Nancy Barrett of Standard

& Poor’s Investment Services

shares how her persistence in

convincing top leadership of

the value of an innovative

new product finally paid off .

You’ve got a car filled with people. The person in the driver’s

seat has their left foot on the brake. The person next to them

has their right foot on the accelerator. A third person reaches

their arms from the back seat, around the “driver,” and attempts

to steer. From the back right seat, a fourth person randomly yells

directions. Catastrophe, right?

Want to make it worse? Add a fifth person, a “leader,” to supervise

the four in the car from a remote location and tell them exactly

what to do.

Randy Nelson, dean of Pixar University, the creative learning center

for Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, used this story of the “spider

car” to illustrate the pitfalls of traditional leadership. He spoke at the

Graduate School of Management’s third annual Peer-to-Pier network-

ing event, held March 9 at San Francisco’s Waterfront Restaurant.

Nelson joined Nancy Barrett, vice president of development at

Standard & Poor’s Investment Services; David Petroni, vice president

of corporate development at Valchemy, Inc.; and Grove Nichols,

executive vice president of IndyMac Bank, for a spirited

discussion of leadership in practice. Their stories were punctuated

by an unusually strong thunderstorm that swept the bay.

As Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart commented in her opening

remarks, “There are many definitions of leadership, and the char-

acteristics of a good leader are as varied as our gathering tonight.”

Barrett described the perseverance and persistence she

needed to take her idea for an innovative new product from

her immediate boss all the way to the top—McGraw-Hill’s

board of directors. Petroni spoke of PeopleSoft’s $1.8 billion

acquisition of J.D. Edwards & Co., and Oracle’s subsequent hostile

takeover of PeopleSoft. Petroni also emphasized the need for

leadership to match the demands of a specific time, place and

corporate culture. Nichols’ comprehensive checklist of leadership

attributes included intensity and drive, a passion for details,

intolerance of bureaucracy, accountability, candor, the

“willingness to be unreasonable”—and compassion.

Following the formal presentation, the industry insiders

continued the conversation at a reception of more than

200 GSM students, alumni and faculty, as well as

recruiters and other business leaders.

“Companies and organizations are facing an increasingly

challenging environment, and no one leadership style will

work across the board,” noted Biggart. “Our panelists

shared different types of leadership challenges, but they

all emphasized the role of conviction and persistence in

meeting those challenges. It’s an important message.”


starsat annual gala

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U C Davis’ magnificent Mondavi Center was the setting for

the Graduate School of Management’s annual Celebration

of Stars Gala, held in early December . More than 200

students, alumni, faculty, staff, Dean’s Advisory Council members

and Business Partners gathered for an evening of friendship and

dancing—and to honor outstanding students and alumni .

The School’s 33 newest members of the international honor society

Beta Gamma Sigma were recognized for their academic achievements

and future leadership promise . The society is open to MBA students

enrolled in programs accredited by the Association to Advance

Collegiate Schools of Business International . Only those in the top

20 percent of their class are eligible . Membership in the society is

the highest national recognition an MBA student can receive .

Also honored were the recipients of the GSM Alumni Association’s

Distinguished Achievement and Outstanding Service awards . This

year members of the School’s charter class and charter Working

Professional class were honored .

For the second year, students, faculty and staff were invited to

make nominations for the Alumni Association’s Student Fellowship

Awards, given to those who exemplify the core values of passionate

and energetic leadership, community building and service to the

School . The selected students, one from the Daytime MBA program

and one from the Working Professional MBA program, each

received an award of $800 .

The Celebration of Stars Gala recognized these outstanding

UC Davis MBA students, who are among the School’s 33 newest

members of the international honor society Beta Gamma Sigma .

a l U M n i D i s t i n G U i s h e D a C h i e v e M e n t aWa r D

roBison’s Creativity + savvy = sUCCess

Eric Robison’s

eclectic resume

reflects a career

that has, from the start,

allowed him to blend

the logical left side

of his brain with the

creative right. It’s taken

him to major ad agen-

cies McCann-Erickson

and Doyle Dane

Bernback and includes

an eight-year stint with

Vulcan, Inc., where

he managed and advised numerous technology and

entertainment initiatives.

Robison, a member of the School’s charter class

that graduated in 1983, has also produced six films,

including the critically and commercially acclaimed

Far From Heaven, starring Julianne Moore and

Dennis Quaid. A professional sax player, in 2003

he backed Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox and others

at a Buckingham Palace concert marking Queen

Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee. His board memberships

include long-term seats at media giants CNET

Networks and Cumulus Media.

Since 2002 Robison’s creative juices and business

acumen have been put to service at IdeaTrek, Inc., a

solo shop that provides high-level strategic consulting

to diverse clients in the technology, media, consumer

goods and restaurant industries. The majority are

healthy, profitable companies proactively planning

their next stage. Robison describes his job as taking his

clients on a trek, or journey, to a place where they can

problem solve in new and fertile ways. “Oftentimes a

company has a lot of opportunities,” he says. “I help

them determine which of these to pursue and what

resources they’ll need to realize them.”

eriC roBison ‘8�

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 1�

sCott sCaraMastro ‘��

a l U M n i D i s t i n G U i s h e D a C h i e v e M e n t aWa r D

sCaraMastro rePays With interest

Scott Scaramastro began giving

back to the Graduate School

of Management shortly after

graduating in 1997. “My experience as

a member of the Working Professional

MBA program’s charter class was won-

derful,” he recalls. “It was new to all

of us—students, faculty and staff—

and learning together helped cement

a real feeling of collegiality.

“I entered the program knowing I

wanted to move into a role that blended

finance and technology. After gradua-

tion I got a job as a finance analyst at Hewlett-Packard

through a classmate’s referral. I’m very happy to repay

some of the great value I have gotten from my degree.”

In 1998 Scaramastro began working with the School’s

Career Center, and served as H-P’s and then Agilent

Technologies’ recruiting lead at the GSM from 1998 to

2004. In 1999 he transferred to Agilent, where he is

currently the electronic design automation program

manager. He continues to serve on the recruiting team

in a support role.

“We certainly get a big bang for the buck from Scott

as an alumnus,” says Career Center Director Kathy

Klenzendorf, citing his participation in mock and

real interviews, career fairs and orientation panel

discussions. Over the past five years Scaramastro has

helped facilitate 32 career and internship hires at H-P

and 10 at Agilent, despite the downturn following the

2001 dot-com bust. His efforts helped make the GSM

one of Agilent’s nine U.S. “national schools”—those

the company commits to with graduate hiring quotas

and other support.

Running a virtual company, Robison finds, gives him

the freedom to take on the projects he is most inter-

ested in doing—and to engage other consultants as

needed, whether it’s a technology expert, a human

resources guru or a lawyer.

“My favorite projects are always my current projects,”

he says. Some of the most intriguing involve the inter-

section of creativity and technology. “The Internet

continues to give us new ways to reach audiences—

and it will expand in ways that we cannot even con-

ceive of right now. This fluidity and the opportunities

it creates fascinate me.”

Despite a dizzyingly hectic schedule, Robison

continues to be a resource to the Graduate School

of Management. In 2004, as a Dean’s Distinguished

Speaker, he gave a provoking talk on creative discipline

that drew on his diverse experiences in business, film

and music to illustrate how real problem solving

begins when managers get out of the box, escape the

endless noise of multitasking and truly focus.

As a new member of the Dean’s Advisory Council,

Robison joins 37 other top California business leaders

in sharing ideas and advice on everything from student

projects to the School’s future development.

“Nicole and the other professors helped me navigate

where I was taking my career. I’ll never forget their

help, or that of the other students,” he continues.

“I was a sax player with an undergraduate degree in

communication studies and very little background

in business. They helped me figure it all out.”

a l U M n i o U t s ta n D i n G

s e r v i C e a W a r D

(Continued on page 14)

“nicole Biggart was one of my professors

more than 20 years ago,” he remembers.

“She is now the dean, and that in itself

is a great reason to be involved

with the School.

14 • spring / summer 2006

starsat annual gala

(Continued from page 13)

“Doing the mock interviews with first-year students

is very rewarding,” Scaramastro says. “I get some early

insights into people who might interest Agilent in a

couple years down the road when they graduate. On

a personal level, I just enjoy talking to the students.

They have such interesting, diverse backgrounds

and experiences.”

Scaramastro has been a resource to the School’s

faculty as well. “Each Production and Operations

Management class visits a factory,” explains Professor

David Woodruff. “Scott organized a visit to Agilent’s

Santa Rosa plant that included some great presenta-

tions by their planners and schedulers and a terrific

tour. But most memorable for me and the students

was that Scott had contacted many other GSM alums

who work at Agilent. Hearing their perspectives greatly

enhanced the visit and reminded us that the GSM

really is an extended community.”

As co-vice president of operations on the GSM’s

Alumni Association board from 1999 to 2002,

Scaramastro contributed his financial management

expertise by formalizing the board’s budgeting process.

He also initiated the popular quarterly GSM socials at

local watering holes. “Between work and family, there

often isn’t much time for anything else. These are a

great way to get back in touch with classmates and

meet some new people,” he says.

Most recently, he helped facilitate Agilent CEO and

UC Davis alumnus William Sullivan’s return to campus,

first as a participant in the Dean’s Distinguished

Speaker Series last October and then as this year’s

GSM commencement keynote speaker.

“I was pleased but surprised to receive the Alumni

Association’s award,” Scaramastro says. “You lose track

of what you’ve done as time slips away. I’m glad to see

that I’m joining Joy Dalauidao-Hermsen as a recipient

of this award, as I’ve worked closely with her over the

years and have always been really impressed by her. I

look forward to continuing my relationship with the

School and helping to maintain the caliber of the

program in whatever manner I can.”

s t u d e n t f e l l o w s h i p a w a r d

it’s all about the triple bottom line

Peers describe

Kyle Salyer

as a man of

deep convictions, a

strong advocate for

the critical role that

business can play

in creating positive

social change.

In the summer of

1997, following his

first year of college,

Salyer participated in a church-sponsored trip to a

small village in Guatemala, where he spent 10 days

helping build a new home for a destitute woman.

“That part of the country had been heavily affected

by the guerilla war, and my experience there opened

my eyes,” he remembers.

Fast forward to 2005, and Salyer and student Julie

Obbard have joined forces to propose a new elective

in social entrepreneurship at the Graduate School of

Management. Their careful research convinced Dean

Nicole Woolsey Biggart that the course was both aca-

demically solid and consistent with offerings at other

top business schools. Taught by alumnus Cleveland

Justis ‘05, who is executive director of the Headlands

Institute, the course was offered for the second time

this year.

Salyer’s quiet but effective leadership—characterized

by integrity and a growing awareness of the importance

of delegating—is evident in his work with the School’s

Net Impact chapter, as a presenter at the Global Social

Venture Competition, and as co-chair of the School’s

Community Consulting Group. As student Daniel Lee

comments, “While there are many I’ve heard talk the

talk, Kyle is one of the few who truly walks the walk.

He’s the model for being a global citizen.”

kyle salyer

“A lot of people think of ‘doing good’

as giving money or donating time at a

soup kitchen. This course exposes them

to the many models for using business to

create social change outside of the

traditional non-profit world,” Salyer notes.


charles madison

uc davis graduate school of management • 15


madison harnesses the

power of community

It had been a decade since he earned

his bachelor’s degree at UC Davis

when Charles Madison returned to

his alma mater in 2003. Behind him

were several demanding jobs in the

energy industry; before him, a passion

for new challenges that would test his

project management skills.

He joined UC Davis’ Utilities

Department as an energy engineer, and

a year later entered the Graduate School of Management’s

Working Professional MBA program in Sacramento. “I

thought I would focus on quantitative analysis and

management science,” he says. “Instead, I found myself

more attracted to developing my soft skills and my

understanding of organizational behavior.”

Madison’s academic interests soon found application not

only on the job but also in his efforts to foster community

at the School.

Like most working students, Madison knows well the

limitations of the 24-hour day—which seems even shorter

since the birth of his daughter, Grace, in January. But he

believes that out-of-class time with others in the program

both enriches the MBA experience and builds a network

of friends and professional colleagues that will last a life-

time. Through the Student Council, he helped organize

the School’s first-ever Komen Race for the Cure team, and

brought baseball fans together for a River Cats game one

hot August afternoon.

His circle includes an unusually large number

of first-year students, due at least in part to his

role in the School’s recruiting efforts. He is a

frequent speaker at MBA admissions events

and regularly meets with potential students to

share his insight and experiences. “This year,”

he says, “we’re taking it a few steps further by

maintaining our connection with prospective

students—for instance, by having them shadow

us and visit one of our classes.”

As the Working Professional Student Council’s

liaison to the GSM Alumni Association,

Madison attends the association’s board meetings. He is

committed to building bridges between current students

and alumni, for instance by helping grow the existing

mentor program and encouraging informal get-togethers

and other opportunities.

“Building connections is what it’s

all about,” Madison says.

One interesting collaboration opportunity grew out

of a chance conversation two years ago with UC Davis

grounds manager Sal Genito about Genito’s idea to craft

olive oil from the messy fruits of the campus’ 2,000-plus

olive trees. Madison brought word of the venture back to

his marketing class—and returned to Genito a few weeks

later with a branding and marketing plan. Today, Genito

can’t keep the distinctive UC Davis olive oil on the shelf.

That’s the power of community.

More than 200 people gathered for the Graduate School of

Management’s Celebration of Stars Gala at UC Davis Mondavi Center.

And Salyer believes it is a model many will follow.

“Groups like Net Impact are successful because they tap

into people’s core desire to do good. It’s very powerful

when people realize they can create change within compa-

nies, whether they are interested in corporate social

responsibility, environmental issues, or community or

international development.”

After graduation Salyer will become senior vice president

for operations at MicroCredit Enterprises, where he

worked on a pro bono basis throughout his two years at

the GSM. An anti-poverty, social venture, MicroCredit

Enterprises provides loans to microfinance institutions that

serve poor entrepreneurs in Latin America, Asia and Africa.


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Members of the GSM’s Net Impact chapter gather at

the 13th annual Net Impact National Conference at

Stanford University in November . (Front row, left to right): Geoff Jennings, Cody Carroll,

Kurt Olmstead . (Middle row, left to right): Josaphine Tuchel, Kristie Korneluk,

Thomas Nelson, Craig Cummins, Andrea Schafer, Jonathon Anderson,

Steven Song, Kyle Salyer . (Back row, left to right): Aaron Burda, Sara Happe,

Shalini Sahdeo, Kevin DeLury, Aimee Waldman, Paige Marino, Brian Hoblit .

Making an Even Greater “Net Impact”stUDents eMBraCe soCial anD environMental resPonsiBility

“Be the change you want to see in the world .”

—net impact Conference keynote speaker al Gore,

quoting Gandhi

“The conference was a great chance to meet like-

minded business students and learn more about how

others are incorporating social and environmental

concerns into solid, profitable businesses,” said GSM

Net Impact co-president and first-year MBA student

Geoff Jennings, one of 29 GSM students who attended.

innovative BoarD felloWs ProGraM

This spring the School’s chapter launched the Board

Fellows program, a leadership service initiative that

places students as ex officio members on regional

non-profit boards for a year. UC Davis is one of

three chapters piloting this innovative program

as a hands-on approach to cultivate

students’ leadership skills and serve

the community. The charter class

includes Michael Alcheck, who

will work with the Family

Services Agency of Marin; Dana

Progar, who will work with the

Sacramento Entrepreneurship

Academy; and Josa Tuchel, who

will volunteer with the Yolo

Community Foundation.

neW Green BaG seMinar series

The year was also marked by the debut of a Green

Bag lunch speaker series. The events offer students

insights into issues and careers in various sectors

of business social responsibility, and give them the

opportunity to network with and tap into the “green”

resources and expertise at UC Davis.

Speakers have included Professor Brad Barber, who

discussed the School’s new Center for Investor Welfare

and Corporate Responsibility. UC Davis’ chief architect,

Bill Starr, spoke about the campus’ implementation

of environmentally friendly, LEEDS-certified buildings.

Josh Dorf, CEO of JOG Distribution, spoke about the

sales and marketing of natural and organic foods.

And UC Davis geology researcher Sara Null joined

with Sacramento Bee journalist Tom Philp in a discussion

on the feasibility and impacts of draining California’s

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Philp won a Pulitzer Prize for

editorial writing that called for undamming and

restoring the once-spectacular Hetch Hetchy Valley.

Does UC Davis have the greenest and most

socially responsible MBA program in the

country? By one measure, the answer is

yes. For the past four years the Graduate School of

Management’s Net Impact chapter—one of more than

100 student and professional chapters around the

world—has had the highest per capita attendance

at the organization’s annual conference.

At the 13th annual Net Impact Conference held last

November at Stanford University’s Graduate School

of Business, keynote speaker Al Gore quoted Gandhi,

urging the 1,300 MBA students and entrepre-

neurs in attendance to “Be the change you

want to see in the world.” The event’s

theme, Bridging the Gap—Leading

Social Innovation Across Sectors,

recognized that business today

knows no bounds, and neither

should creating social value.


Doing Good Never Felt So Great GSM Team Makes Finals of Global Citizenship Challenge

A team of four UC Davis MBA students was among six finalists in this year’s Global Citizenship Challenge, the largest international case com-petition focusing on corporate citizenship, sustainability and development.

Fifty-six teams from more than 15 countries participated in the first round of the 2006 competition, held online in February. Sponsored by Merck, the X-Prize Foundation and Net Impact, the challenge is hosted by the Net Impact chapter at Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management.

The GSM team of Roger Lee, Dakota Coe and Andrea Schafer—minus Kevin DeLury, who was on an international study trip—traveled to Thunderbird for the finals during the last weekend in March. They joined students from Thunderbird, the University of Virginia, the Instituto de Empresa (Madrid, Spain), George Washington University and the University of North Carolina in vying for the $5,000 first prize, half of which was donated to charity.

Upon arrival, the teams commenced a 12-hour marathon to prepare their solutions to a common challenge: to help the pharmaceutical industry achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals through better public-private sector partnerships. The goals—which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and ensuring universal primary education—were approved by the U.N.’s member nations in September 2000 and have a target implementation date of 2015.

The next morning, Coe said the GSM team delivered “a lively 20-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. The other teams were also superb, and I learned more about presenting from watching them than I ever have before.”

The judges praised the teams for the innovative thinking and careful analy-sis behind their presentations. “All of you prioritized a challenge to extend the frontiers of corporate social sustainability at a time when you were saddled with coursework, exams and a hunt for jobs and summer intern-ships,” contest organizers told the teams.

“It was a wonderful experience,” said Schafer. “The competition offered a great way to share ideas on how we are going to address the corporate responsibility issues that face us in today’s business world.”

UC Davis MBA students

Andrea Schafer, Roger Lee and Dakota Coe share

a moment at Thunderbird, The Garvin School of

International Management in Glendale, Ariz ., where

they were one of six finalist teams to compete in the

Global Citizenship Challenge .

www.davisnetimpact.org

on-site: soCially resPonsiBle BUsinesses

Last fall Net Impact members paid a visit to Roseville-

based PRIDE Industries, a leading provider of business

outsourcing solutions and the country’s largest employer

of people with disabilities. The group toured the facility

and met with senior executives, including company

president Michael Ziegler.

Second-year MBA student Kyle Salyer came away

impressed with PRIDE’s operations and ideals. “It is a

tremendous enterprise in the heart of the Sacramento

community,” he said. “They are fulfilling an important

social mission while operating a self-sufficient business

with nearly $100 million in annual revenue.”

In February the UC Davis chapter joined with MBA

students from UC Berkeley, UCLA and the University

of San Francisco for a career day organized by alumnus

Cleveland Justis ’04. Justis, who is director of the

Headlands Institute and teaches a course on social

entrepreneurship at the GSM, was recently appointed

to the board of the national Net Impact organization,

headquartered in San Francisco.

The tour featured visits to a variety of businesses in

the San Francisco Bay Area, including Clif Bar, Cisco,

Baycat, California Environmental Associates and

Genentech. The style of the visits varied widely, ranging

from a formal PowerPoint presentation to an intimate

chat with executives. Students had a chance to ask

insightful questions about corporate social responsibility

and business in general.

In addition to its other activities, the Net Impact

chapter has been working with Professor Barber to

create and manage a socially responsible mutual

fund that will be offered as a course in the upcoming

academic year.

The chapter is looking to expand its membership and

making an even greater “net impact” on our School

and local community.

Making an Even Greater “Net Impact”stUDents eMBraCe soCial anD environMental resPonsiBility


In the spirit of philanthropy, second-year

UC Davis MBA student Eric Olson spikes

over a Stanford peer during a volleyball

game at the MBA Challenge for Charity

weekend sports competition in April.

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C4C volunteer events included a Special Olympics

bowling competition and the first annual College

Career Day at the GSM for 10 high school students

who are members of the Boys and Girls Clubs. In

addition, GSM students volunteered at the Peja &

Vlade Charitabowl, an annual benefit for the Peja

Stojakovic Children’s Foundation, the Boys and

Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento and Group Seven

Children’s Foundation that is sponsored by the former

Sacramento Kings stars.

Over the course of the academic year, GSM students

volunteered 694 hours, or 6.6 hours per student.

Three students—Andrea Schafer, Chris Ferreira and

Jason Cohen—each donated more than 40 hours.

The chapter’s fundraising efforts included a ski trip

to Lake Tahoe, a chili cook-off and the annual Wine

Tasting Benefit. Under the leadership of incoming C4C

co-chairs Andrea Schafer and Kevin DeLury, the wine

tasting drew a big turnout of alumni, business leaders,

students, and GSM faculty and staff. In all, the

chapter’s events netted $21,000—a $1,000 increase

over last year.

T hree years after UC Davis Graduate School

of Management students first opened their

hearts and their wallets to benefit children

and disabled athletes, the School’s chapter of MBA

Challenge for Charity (C4C) can proudly point to its

most successful year yet.

MBA Challenge for Charity is the nation’s largest

charitable business school organization. Each year,

eight top West Coast business schools compete in

volunteering, fundraising and a weekend of sports

and trivia competitions.

The schools’ combined efforts benefit the Special

Olympics and a second, local charity—in the Graduate

School of Management’s case, the Helvetica Branch of

the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sacramento. “With greater

involvement from both first- and second-year stu-

dents, we had a strong core group of volunteer coor-

dinators, and this year our relationship with the Boys

and Girls Clubs blossomed,” said Chris Ferreira, vice

president of planning and activities for the UC Davis

C4C chapter.

Never Too Much Time or Money: MBa ChallenGe for Charity

ContinUes to thrive


“The MBA students help us

positively affect the lives of

our members, not only by their

financial contribution but also

by lending their time and

dedication to our clubs .

We are truly grateful for our

relationship with UC Davis .”

— Kyle Chase, office Manager,

Boys and Girls Clubs of

Greater sacramento

This amount increased by almost 50 percent when the

Teichert Foundation matched the C4C chapter’s $10,000

donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs last October.

“Teichert’s matching gift program allows us to maxi-

mize the donations of charitable organizations, such

as the very generous gift received from the UC Davis

Graduate School of Management,” said Kyle Chase,

office manager of the Boys and Girls Clubs of

Greater Sacramento. “The MBA students help us

positively affect the lives of our members, not only by

their financial contribution but also by lending their

time and dedication to our clubs. We are truly grateful

for our relationship with UC Davis.”

In late April more than half of the School’s full-time

MBA students traveled to Stanford University for the

year’s final C4C effort: a weekend of events ranging

from soccer matches to an ultimate Frisbee tournament.

It was an opportunity for GSM students to demonstrate

their flair for teamwork while networking with students

from Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC, UCLA, the University

of Washington, UC Irvine and Pepperdine.

And when the last competition was over and final tallies

were made, the GSM’s C4C chapter placed second in

donations and third in volunteer hours. Placing sixth

in the sports competitions, the GSM chapter finished

a respectable third overall. Together, the eight schools

raised $442,698 and donated 11,876 volunteer hours.

“Over the past three years, involvement in the club has

skyrocketed as GSM students demonstrate their com-

mitment to helping improve the lives of others in our

community,” Ferreira said. “C4C offers an easy and

fun way for us to make a real difference.”

A game of wit and skill: second-year UC Davis

MBA student John Broome keeps the Frisbee

out of the hands of a defender from UCLA’s

Anderson School.

Volunteering at a bowling tournament, Jarrett

Shawber gives a spirited high five to a Special

Olympics athlete.

The Graduate School of Management’s 2005–2006 MBA

Challenge for Charity chapter co-chairs Jarrett Shawber (left)

and David Hatton (middle) present the Special Olympics of

Northern California with a $10,000 donation in December.

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was slated to open on May 31 in San Ramon—not

far from the San Ramon Valley Conference Center,

the home of the Bay Area MBA program. Hodder

said she’s already signing up her classmates and their

friends as Ensembles customers.

Visitors to Ensembles will be able to create eight to 14

healthy, ready-to-cook meals that are personalized to

their family’s tastes. Hodder said customers can save

hours of shopping, preparation and clean-up time.

Hodder said the advice and feedback from mentors

and judges and the network of contacts they have plugged

into through the competition have been invaluable.

“The Big Bang! experience has helped us to think big

and move beyond our first store,” said Hodder. “It’s

pushed us out of our initial go-to-market bubble and

made us think beyond our first few milestones.”

With technology born out of UC Davis research labs,

Mesolytics hopes to give health care professionals a

portable tool to quickly diagnose infectious diseases

using a swab of a patient’s saliva or a drop of blood.

The biomedical venture’s platform is based on

nanowires that hold antibodies proven to detect a

single virus with laboratory sensitivity. Based on a

disposable razor-and-blade model, the device’s inter-

changeable test cartridges will target influenza, including

the avian flu subtype. Future applications include

other respiratory ailments, HIV and common sexually

transmitted diseases, and biosecurity hazards such as

exposure to anthrax and plague. The team hopes to

set up its manufacturing in West Sacramento.

GSM alumnus Farley Stewart ’05 teamed up with

Mesolytics’ lead researchers Zane Starkewolfe and

Dan Masiel, both UC Davis graduate students in

chemistry. Stewart then brought on board Kara

Schmelzer, who has a Ph.D. in pharmacology.

Two start-ups aiming to fill a niche for conve-

nience, speed and efficiency in their markets—

a retail outlet that helps busy families prepare

nutritious, home-cooked meals and a biomedical ven-

ture that is developing a handheld device to instantly

diagnose infections—each won $10,000 in this year’s

UC Davis Business Plan Competition.

Ensembles LLC of San Ramon and Mesolytics of Davis

shared the first place award and prize money in the

sixth annual Big Bang! Business Plan Competition,

organized by MBA students of the Graduate School of

Management to promote entrepreneurship, innova-

tion and hands-on learning. The winners were

announced at an awards ceremony on May 17.

Ensembles, the meal

service, was cooked up by

Juliet Hodder, a student

in the UC Davis Bay Area

MBA program, and her

co-owners Leslie Leach, a

former brand manager for

The Clorox Co., and exec-

utive chef Ann-Marie

Ramo. Their first store

ensembles and mesolytics share Winners circle

GSM alumnus Farley Stewart ’05 explains

Mesolytics’ designs for a portable device based

on UC Davis nanotechnology research. The

device will give health care professionals the

ability to instantly and accurately diagnose

viral infections using a swab of a patient’s

saliva or a drop of blood. The biomedical

venture shared the winners circle in the Big

Bang! and will invest the $10,000 in winnings

to advance their proof of concept in the lab.

Stewart and Schmelzer met this past year when she

participated in the GSM’s Business Development

Certificate program for campus scientists.

“We were able to bring together physics, chemistry

and bioelectrical engineering, plus the management

capability, all to form a team. This would not have

been possible without the UC Davis Little Bang and

Big Bang! competitions,” said Farley Stewart. “It’s

a great example of campus researchers and MBA

students coming together in a powerful way that has

the potential to commercialize technology here in

the Sacramento area.”

MBA student Pramod Parihar, chair of the competi-

tion, called the quality of the business plans “superb.”

“The connections that have been made are a testament

to the goal of the Big Bang!,” Parihar said. “Many of

the teams represent partnerships between Graduate

School of Management students and alumni and

world-class UC Davis scientists and researchers.”

The MBA students launched the competition in

October, offering a series of events and workshops

ranging from protecting intellectual property and

business plan writing to financial planning and

marketing. More than 50 firms provided financial

sponsorship or their representatives led workshops,

groomed teams or judged the competition. It culmi-

nated on May 17 when a panel of eight judges,

including veteran venture capitalists, angel investors,

innovation experts and intellectual property attorneys,

selected the two winners to split the first and second

place prize money, giving each $10,000.

(Continued on page 22)


little Bang— the spaRK oF something Big

opening more doors of opportunity, MBA student organizers

of the Big Bang! Business Plan Competition for the second

consecutive year coordinated with UC Davis ConnECT

Business Development, a campus program

that supports the commercialization of UC

Davis technologies, to hold a series of five

“Little Bang” poster competitions to encourage

more graduate and post-doctoral students to

explore the market potential for their research.

Held in February, the Little Bang contests

drew more than 20 teams that participated in

five sectors: clean energy and environmental

sciences, computational science and information

technology, foods for health and wellness,

medical and biotechnology innovations, and

nanotechnology.

Each winning team received $3,000. The winners

and runners-up of each Little Bang earned a

berth as a semi-finalist in the Big Bang!

Four of the six finalists teams in the Big Bang!

this year—including Mesolytics, which tied

for first—followed the path from the Little

Bang. The three other finalists were nova

Chemicals, IDA Technologies and Soyum!

All of the teams involved Graduate School

of Management MBA students or alumni

partnering with the researchers.

“We are delighted with this year’s Little Bang

competitors who made it all the way through

the Big Bang!,” said Meg Arnold, director of

UC Davis ConnECT Business Development.

“The teams’ successes are a direct result of

their commitment, creativity and hard work

throughout the year.”


At the Big Bang! Final Awards event, UC Davis

Bay Area MBA student Juliet Hodder and her

business partner Leslie Leach present the business

plan for Ensembles, a ready-to-cook meal service

that plans to open its first store in San Ramon,

Calif. in late May. Hodder said the $10,000

first prize will be a big help as they plan future

store locations.


“There was a nice spread of different types of finalists—

consumer product, food sciences, electronic design

automation, biomedical and nanotechnology—which

shows a much broader engagement with the university’s

technology community,” said Harry Laswell, general

partner of American River Ventures in Roseville.

Laswell, who had judged the first three competitions,

said he has seen a significant improvement in the

quality of the business plans and the preparation of

the presenters.

“For the first time, we have a field of teams in the Big

Bang! that are going to get funded—some may be

funded by angel investors, maybe one or two will

actually be venture capital-funded,” said judge Scott

Lenet, managing director of venture capital firm DFJ

Frontier in West Sacramento. “It speaks well to what is

happening at UC Davis.

“In particular, Ensembles has shown that without a lot

of resources they’ve been able to make great progress

and demonstrate their commitment to doing this with

their own money. They’re real entrepreneurs,” he added.

“Mesosyltics is based on core UC Davis science that is

hard to duplicate,” said Lenet. “It’s really interesting

technology that could fill a real need in the point-of-

care market.”

SmartMomsCircle of Sacramento won the People’s

Choice award and $2,000 as the audience’s favorite at

the awards event. The team plans to build an online

community for stay-at-home parents who want to

keep up with their careers, stay networked and take on

gsm team maKes Final eight in Jungle Business plan challenge

a team with two UC Davis MBA students that was a finalist in the

Big Bang! also advanced to the final eight in Jungle Media Group’s

2006 Business Plan Challenge, a prestigious international competition

that drew nearly 200 entrants from across the country and from as

far away as Israel, India and Pakistan.

Innovative Design Automation (IDA) Technologies is working on new

software for improving the design of microchips. IDA’s team includes

Jorge Campos, a UC Davis doctoral student in electrical engineering

who is also a participant in the GSM’s Business Development

Certificate program; MBA students Brian Hoblit and Ben Mok; and

Matthew Caldwell, a graduate student researcher in the Institute of

Transportation Studies. The software aims to use random changes

and selection to reduce semiconductor chip development time and

costs by up to 30 percent.

IDA joined 24 semi-finalist teams

(including another team of GSM

students behind Fantasy Sports Gaming

network) at Fenwick & West’s Silicon

valley law offices on April 28 to present

their business plans to a panel of judges

comprising leading venture capitalists,

entrepreneurs and attorneys.

At the grueling one-day pitch off, IDA

made the cut to the final eight. The

winner of the sixth annual competition

was SunPhocus Technologies of the University of Chicago, which took

home $35,000 in cash and legal services from Fenwick & West and

other in-kind prizes.

UC Davis MBA student Brian Hoblit said IDA has inked an agreement

to start beta testing their software later this year. “We have a great

idea, but we need funding to put together a bigger team that will

actually be able to bring it to fruition,” he said.

“The IDA team has made tremendous progress in a very short time,”

said Jim Schraith, an active angel investor in the Sacramento region

who is advising IDA and is managing partner of the El Dorado Hills

Technology Incubator. “To make it as far as they did in a large com-

petition such as this is a great indication of how well they will be

received by the professional investment community.”

“We have a great idea,

but we need funding

to put together a bigger

team that will actually

be able to bring it

to fruition .”

—UC Davis MBa student

Brian hoblit

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 2�GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 2�

At the Big Bang! Finals in

May, Jim and Georgia Corbett

announce their intent for

their student fellowship for

entrepreneurs to be awarded

to students who are involved

with the business plan

competition.project-based work. The circle of entrepreneurs includes UC

Davis alumni Rose Elley, Elena Naderi and Alexander Vanderbilt;

UC Davis economics student Jason Montgomery; and Laura

Iriarte and Garrett Wilson.

The three other Big Bang! finalists were:

• SOYum!, which is manufacturing a soy powder substitute

for eggs and milk that could be used to produce healthier

food that is lower in cholesterol and saturated fats, and by

people who are allergic to eggs or diary products. The team

members are MBA student Mark Gannon, and Brad Olsen,

Laura Pallas and Marco Garcia, all graduate students in the

UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology.

• Nova Chemicals, which aims to develop and sell new types

of materials for packaging microelectronic circuit boards.

The new materials have better physical properties and are

more reliable than current products on the market, and could

reduce packing time by almost 50 percent.

Dakota Coe, a joint MBA/JD student,

teamed up with two Ph.D. researchers,

Frank Shi and Beth Schneggenburger.

• Innovative Design Automation, which is

working on new software for improving

the design of microchips. Jorge Campos,

a UC Davis doctoral student in electrical

engineering who is also a participant in the

GSM’s Business Development Certificate

program, teamed up with MBA students

Brian Hoblit and Ben Mok. Taking a lead

from evolutionary biology, their product

aims to use random changes and selection

to reduce semiconductor chip development

time and costs by up to 30 percent.

“The Big Bang! continues to expand expo-

nentially,” said Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart.

“The competition plays a major role in

spreading the entrepreneurial spirit across

the UC Davis campus and offers a proving

ground for some of the university’s most

promising technology and start-up ideas.

It’s all about education, inspiration and

making a difference.”

http://bigbang.gsm.ucdavis.edu

thank you!2006 Big Bang! Business Plan Competition sponsors

platinum

Dla Piper rudnick Gray Cary

gold

UC Davis Medical Center

DfJ frontier

arête therapeutics

silveR

Cleanstart

fenwick & West

BRonze

akers Capital

american river ventures

Capital valley ventures

fedex Kinko’s

first Us Community Credit Union

Javed iqbal

McDonough holland & allen

coRBetts designate FelloWship FoR mBa students involved in Big Bang!

Jim and Georgia Corbett’s ties to UC Davis and the Graduate

School of Management run deep. The president and chair of

Spectrum Capital Corporation, Jim served as chair of the School’s

Dean’s Advisory Council from 1990 to 1995, and as a special

advisor and volunteer. He is also a former trustee of the UC

Davis Foundation Board. Georgia is a UC Davis alumna.

Four years ago the Corbetts pledged $100,000 to establish

an endowment that would provide an annual fellowship for

a UC Davis MBA student with the potential to succeed as an

entrepreneur. They recently requested that the student be

involved with the Big Bang! Business Plan Competition.

Jim Corbett founded the Sacramento

Entrepreneurship Academy in 1986 to help

UC Davis and Sacramento State students

become entrepreneurs. He remains chair

of the academy today.

GSM alumnus Jacob rivera ’05 inspired the

Corbetts to revise their fellowship. “It was

our privilege to know Jacob first through

the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy

and later when he was chair of the 2005 Big

Bang!,” they explained. “If in some small way

we can honor his efforts, as well as those of

future Big Bang! participants, we are quite

proud to be in that light.”

The James r. and Georgia K. Corbett

Fellowship for Student Entrepreneurs will

recognize at least one student per year

for their exceptional capability, talent

and passion. “The fellowship will have a

positive impact on our entrepreneurial

students for generations to come,” said

Dean nicole Woolsey Biggart.

2� • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

Professor Alkimar Moura of

FGV-EAESP, São Paulo’s

business school, gave students

a lesson on the Brazilian

economy that drew on his

experience as the former

director of the country’s

Central Bank.

2� • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

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S ã o Pa u lo, B r a z i l

Kevin DeLury and Tamara Olson

discover that a traditional Brazilian

BBQ is no time to count calories.

GSM students Alex Morris,

Cody Carroll, Kevin DeLury,

Josaphine Tuchel and Tamara

Olson at the Governor’s Palace

in Morumbi, São Paulo, where

they met the state secretary for

government strategy.

March 20, 2006 Our trip officially began with a visit

to Perdigão, the “Foster Farms of

Brazil.” Rather than owning the

farms that produce their product,

the company hires individual

families to raise the animals,

reducing their costs and employ-

ing many people in the process.

We also learned about government

policy from the state secretary for

government strategy, but the high-

light of the day was dinner at a

churrascaria, a traditional Brazilian

BBQ. I witnessed an amazing dis-

play of eating ability as our crew slugged it out at this

all-you-can-eat meat buffet.

—Kevin DeLury

March 21, 2006

Today we toured São Paulo’s business school,

FGV-EAESP. Unlike the traditional monochromatic

classrooms we are accustomed to in the U.S., each

classroom here is uniquely and colorfully decorated

by a corporate sponsor. At the end of our tour,

Professor Alkimar Moura, former director of Brazil’s

Central Bank, provided an overview of the economy.

With the Brazilian currency, the real, gaining strength,

he said, Brazil’s future appears favorable.

Next we visited Agnelo Pacheco, a local, employee-

owned communications agency that represents consumer

empowerment and offers clients greater returns on their

investments. The advertising industry in Brazil is booming

(up 14.7% in 2005), largely due to the growing number

of Brazilians with Internet access.

—Paige Marino

after spending the winter quarter immersing themselves

in the diverse cultures and complex economies of

Brazil and Argentina, the 12 MBA students enrolled

in Professor Prasad Naik’s International Field Practicum

joined him for a 10-day trek through the executive suites,

business school classrooms, major banks and unforgettable

sights and tastes of the two countries . They recorded their

first impressions, experiences and lessons learned in a

“team blog .”

B r a z i l a r g e n ti n aca J o U r n e y t o t W o W o r l D s o n o n e a M a z i n G t r i P


Commuter transportation,

Brazilian-style, outside the

employee-owned communications

agency Agnelo Pacheco.

t


Friday, March 24 included a visit to

Alltech Brazil. Headquartered in Lexington,

Kentucky, animal-feed industry leader

Alltech has 14 regional production

facilities worldwide.

March 22, 2006No need for a wake-up call this morning: a loud rally

a block from our hotel did the job. This is a presidential

election year in Brazil, and there is a serious division

among its citizens. Later in the day, as we met with the

chief economist for Banco Itaú, we came to better

understand this pronounced divide. While Brazil has

fared better financially than several other South

American countries, many citizens believe the govern-

ment has focused on the economy at the expense of

social issues. Perhaps today’s most astounding lesson

is that banks do not offer mortgages in Brazil. But

then, who could afford a loan when the going interest

rate is nearly 30 percent!

—Stacey Cole

March 24, 2006São Paulo, a city of 17 million, experiences all of the

typical woes of a metropolis its size, including dreadful

traffic, poor air quality and endless sprawl. In stark

contrast is Curitiba, the capitol of the Brazilian state

of Paraná, and the next stop on the itinerary. At our

afternoon meeting with the Curitiba Planning Institute

we learned how four decades of thoughtful planning

and growth have made Curitiba a world-renowned

model of urban living and sustainability. Most impres-

sive is the city’s multitude of parks, pedestrian-friendly

urban spaces and incredibly

efficient public transit system,

which is used by an impressive

85 percent of Curitiba residents.

Speaking of transportation, our

Friday night “hotel” came in

the form of an overnight bus

to Iguaçu Falls, one of the seven

wonders of the world.

—Tamara Olson

B r a z i l a r g e n ti n aca J o U r n e y t o t W o W o r l D s o n o n e a M a z i n G t r i P

26 • sPrinG / sUMMer 200626 • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

B u e n o S a i r e S , a r g e n ti n a

Two to tango: Paige Marino and

Professor Prasad Naik take a turn

on the dance floor.

Stacy Cole (far right) and several

other fearless members of the group

were willing to get drenched to

reach the base of Iguaçu Falls.

Cody Carroll, Kevin DeLury and Alex Morris, within

spraying distance of the magnificent Devil’s Throat.

March 25—26, 2006 In Iguaçu the main attractions are Iguaçu Falls and

Itaipu, a monstrous dam that provides hydroelectricity

for all of Paraguay and 25 percent of Brazil. The over-

flow spouts of the dam shoot water out at frightening

speeds. We appreciated the grand work of humans and

the awesome power of nature; however, only a few

hours later, Iguaçu Falls trumped Itaipu.

This endless series of waterfalls, with spray reaching

hundreds of feet into the air, truly leaves you breathless.

A walkway hovering above the river allowed us to stand

at the base of Devil’s Throat, the highlight of the falls.

We were soaked by the spray, but everyone was having

too much fun to notice. The more adventurous of our

group took a speed boat to the base of the falls for a

true drenching. We all gave Iguaçu Falls “two thumbs

up” as we hopped a plane to our final

destination: Buenos Aires, Argentina.

—Alex Morris

March 27, 2006It is clear that we are in a whole new country. Spanish

not Portuguese, weather more like fall than summer,

and malbec instead of cachaça were the first of many

differences. Our journey to IAE, the management and

business school of the Universidad Austral, took us

past prime Argentine polo country to the town of

Pilar. IAE has built a lovely new campus and academic

program based upon the U.S. research university

model. After Professor Patricio Fay, director of IAE’s

international programs, told us that a starting MBA

student could have a house, sailboat and membership

in a good club, many of us were ready to sign-up.

—John Kirkley

B r a z i l a r g e n ti n ac


Joseph Greiner, Loren Bishop and

Professor Prasad Naik discover that in

Argentina as in the rest of the world,

a Big Mac is simply a Big Mac.

Above: A fascinating and fiery after-

noon at Tenaris’ plant in Campana,

Argentina. Tenaris is a leading global

manufacturer and supplier of seamless

steel pipe products and provider of pipe

handling, stocking and distribution

services to the oil and gas, energy and

mechanical industries.

Below: The panoramic view of the

Rio de la Plata from atop Banco Rio.


March 28, 2006At the South American headquarters of Alberto Culver,

a U.S.-owned company, we discussed the challenges

of maintaining a business in periods of hyperinflation.

According to our host, cash flow management—

collecting customer payments as soon as possible

while extending the repayment period to suppliers—

is the only way to survive. Today a significant challenge

they face is selling their products to Argentines with

limited purchasing power.

In the evening, dressed in tango-appropriate attire, we

taxied down to a Puerto Madera waterfront restaurant,

where we took a group lesson in Argentina’s most

famous dance. I wouldn’t say that we were naturals,

but we got better as the lesson progressed. Exhausted,

we walked along the row of shops and restaurants on

the water to find a place to eat. Italian it was! Pizza,

gnocchi and wine, accompanied a lively discussion

of our new-found talent for tango.

—Josaphine Tuchel

March 29, 2006 Wednesday began with a wild cab ride to the corporate

headquarters of McDonald’s Argentina. Argentina is

ranked 17th in McDonald’s worldwide network and is

second only to Brazil in Latin America. Unlike in the

U.S., where McDonald’s targets lower to middle class

consumers, the target market in Argentina is the upper

class. With the economic crisis of 2001, this potential

market decreased by nearly 40 percent. The company’s

strict focus on operations and marketing through this

March 30, 2006 Our last day began at Banco Rio,

where four young executives explained

how the 2001 financial crisis in

Argentina affected their bank. With

the panoramic view of the Rio de la

Plata and the Uruguayan coast in

the background, some of us found it

hard to stay focused.

Our next meeting was nearly two

hours outside of Buenos Aires in

Campana, where we toured Tenaris,

an international steel pipe producer.

We watched as the flaming hot

pipes were pierced and stretched

into various sizes.

At our last dinner together we shared

lessons and impressions of our

South American journey. The trip was a highlight

of our MBA experience at UC Davis.

—Aimee Waldman

tough time made an example of best practices for

McDonald’s worldwide. Our informative meeting

ended with a hosted lunch, where we enjoyed pita

sandwiches, mozzarella sticks and, of course, Big Macs.

Next we met with Mercado de Valores de Buenos Aires

S.A., Argentina’s stock exchange. Two young and very

intelligent economists summarized the Argentine

financial market structure and gave us their take on the

economy. Despite the crisis, Argentina has experienced

three exceptional years of greater than 9 percent growth

in GDP. Their main concern: is this sustainable?

—Cody Carroll

“I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar and came away

with a basic understanding of marketing and how

the entire wine industry works .” —louis foppiano, owner and President, foppiano vineyards, sonoma valley

friday Welcome luncheon october 6

The Silver Anniversary festivities will kick off on Friday, October 6, with Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart hosting a welcome luncheon where she will share her vision for the School’s next 25 years as well as her experiences as one of the founding faculty members when the doors opened in fall 1981.

The keynote speaker will be Bruce Bodaken, chairman, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California, a non-profit with 3.3 million members and the state’s fastest growing health plan.

Mark your calendars now for a two-day celebration of a historic milestone: the Graduate School of Management’s 25th Anniversary.


“looking Back, Moving forward” 25th Anniversary Weekend Celebration save the Dates: october 6–�

“silver Celebration” saturday october �

Activities will include:

• Davis Farmers’ Market

• Children’s fair

• Moving Forward: GSM Visions for the Future presentation

• Luncheon: Looking Back presentation and contributions to community time capsule

• Tours of UC Davis campus

• Special reunion cocktail party for the classes of ‘86, ‘91, ‘96 and ‘01

• Gala Celebration: dinner, dancing, casino gaming and Alumni Awards.

UC Davis Wine executive Program attracts Globetrotting attendees


“I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar and came away

with a basic understanding of marketing and how

the entire wine industry works .” —louis foppiano, owner and President, foppiano vineyards, sonoma valley

n e W s t i C K e r n e W s t i C K e r n e W s t i C K e r n e W s t i C K e r

The rigorous curriculum includes in-depth sessions on financial management, winemaking prac-tices, marketing and branding, cost analysis and control, legal issues, the latest grape and wine research, and operating modern wineries and vineyards.

Over the past six years, nearly 300 wine industry decision makers from across the U.S.

and around the world have benefited from the program.

“We’re very pleased at the response of this year’s program—it was an overwhelm-ing success,” said GSM Professor Robert Smiley, director of wine industry studies. “The attendees came from many different

The Graduate School of Management and the Department of Viticulture and Enology hosted 45 wine industry profes-sionals at the sixth annual UC Davis Wine Executive Program in March in Sacramento. The program drew participants from as far away as Spain, New Zealand, Korea and Hong Kong.

The four-day professional devel-opment course focuses on the winemaking and management skills that are critical to success in the business and art of making and selling wine.

wineries, vineyards and related wine businesses. They enjoyed the sessions and networking opportunities. We’re looking forward to next year’s program.”

UC Davis Wine executive Program attracts Globetrotting attendees

200� UC Davis Wine executive Program March 4–8, 2007 • Sacramento, Calif.

www.wineexecutiveprogram.com


friday Welcome luncheon october 6

The Silver Anniversary festivities will kick off on Friday, October 6, with Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart hosting a welcome luncheon where she will share her vision for the School’s next 25 years as well as her experiences as one of the founding faculty members when the doors opened in fall 1981.

The keynote speaker will be Bruce Bodaken, chairman, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California, a non-profit with 3.3 million members and the state’s fastest growing health plan.

Mark your calendars now for a two-day celebration of a historic milestone: the Graduate School of Management’s 25th Anniversary.

“silver Celebration” saturday october �

Activities will include:

• Davis Farmers’ Market

• Children’s fair

• Moving Forward: GSM Visions for the Future presentation

• Luncheon: Looking Back presentation and contributions to community time capsule

• Tours of UC Davis campus

• Special reunion cocktail party for the classes of ‘86, ‘91, ‘96 and ‘01

• Gala Celebration: dinner, dancing, casino gaming and Alumni Awards.

“looking Back, Moving forward” 25th Anniversary Weekend Celebration save the Dates: october 6–�


GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • 2�

alumni’s career development and purchasing power, the diversity of the school and its program, and each school’s research capabilities.

Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business information brands. The Financial Times newspaper has an international readership of more than 1.3 million.

This is the eighth FT Global MBA ranking, which evaluates full-time MBA programs from the world’s top business schools. The data for this year’s ranking were gathered from qualifying business schools and their alumni of the past three years. The number of alumni respondents is higher than last year, with responses from 8,300 eligible alumni (36 percent of all the questionnaires e-mailed to MBA alumni).

The rankings data, which span 21 cate-gories, focus on three primary areas: the

The UC Davis MBA program has been ranked among the top 50 business schools in the U.S. in the 2006 Financial Times Global MBA rankings.

Released in January, Financial Times’ ranking placed the UC Davis Graduate School of Management 50th in the U.S. and 79th in the world. The GSM was one of only 14 of the world’s top 100 business schools with all faculty members holding doctorate degrees.

Clients Praise MBa Consulting Center Projects

financial times ranks UC Davis MBa Program in top 50 in U.s.



http://rankings.ft.com/rankings/mba


resources are limiting,” she explained. “I would not hesitate to have another team of students do another project. The quality of their work was as good or better than that of private consultants.”

Another client, Solaicx, needed to know whether it should open a production facility in Portland, Ore., and if so, when and at what cost. “The MBA students assisted us in exploring and evaluating these issues,” said Solaicx chairman Robert Medearis. “Their work was excellent. I know we will be working with the School on future projects.”

This spring, a student team assisted KVIE Public Television in finding new ways to approach financing future capital acquisi-tions. A second student team worked with the UC Davis Center for Biophotonics, Science and Technology, a National Science Foundation–funded consortium of academic researchers that is translating cutting-edge discoveries using lasers, light and imaging to develop useful biomedical tools. The MBA student consultants docu-mented and quantified the breadth and depth of the biophotonics industry.

growth. A team of Working Professional MBA students took on the project and developed a market research survey with both quantitative and qualitative data. They analyzed the data and provided

recommendations for a research methodology that can be applied across all industries in Tri-Valley’s business region.

Meanwhile, AgraQuest approached the center with a query on the growth potential of the company as it considers an initial public offering. The future market size for environmen-tally friendly pesticides is essential for setting an IPO value for the company. The student team developed

detailed financial models on crop acreage by county and by region. Using certain assumptions, they were able to forecast the company’s total possible revenues over the next six years.

AgraQuest founder Pam Marrone said the consulting team exceeded her expecta-tions. “The value of their work was in the sophisticated spreadsheet model they developed, which can be used to prioritize specific market regions and crops if

The UC Davis Graduate School of Manage-ment’s MBA Consulting Center is making a difference for many Northern California companies.

Since last September the companies that have benefited from the students’ assistance include Holt of California, a full-service Caterpillar equipment dealer covering a 17-county region; the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA), a not-for-profit organization that serves as a hub for high-tech entrepreneurs; AgraQuest, a Davis-based biotechnology company; the Tri-Valley Business Council, an organization dedicated to improving economic vitality in the East Bay; and Solaicx, a Santa Clara–based manufacturer of low-cost, high-efficiency silicon wafers for the photovoltaic industry.

The projects have been as varied as the companies.

Tri-Valley Business Council came to the MBA Consulting Center seeking to better understand how it can nurture business

Clients Praise MBa Consulting Center Projects by Cindi Rich

The UC Davis

Graduate School of

Management’s MBA

Consulting Center,

which opened its doors

just last fall, is already

making a difference

for many of Northern

California companies .

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/consulting

financial times ranks UC Davis MBa Program in top 50 in U.s.The UC Davis MBA program has been ranked among the top 50 business schools in the U.S. in the 2006 Financial Times Global MBA rankings.

Released in January, Financial Times’ ranking placed the UC Davis Graduate School of Management 50th in the U.S. and 79th in the world. The GSM was one of only 14 of the world’s top 100 business schools with all faculty members holding doctorate degrees.

This is the eighth FT Global MBA ranking, which evaluates full-time MBA programs from the world’s top business schools. The data for this year’s ranking were gathered from qualifying business schools and their alumni of the past three years. The number of alumni respondents is higher than last year, with responses from 8,300 eligible alumni (36 percent of all the questionnaires e-mailed to MBA alumni).

The rankings data, which span 21 cate-gories, focus on three primary areas: the

alumni’s career development and purchasing power, the diversity of the school and its program, and each school’s research capabilities.

Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business information brands. The Financial Times newspaper has an international readership of more than 1.3 million.


�0 • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

�0 • University of California, Davis�0 • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

left, right, left: GsM Briefcase Brigade Marches on at UC Davis Picnic Day


assistant Dean Claudine thompson retires after �6 years at UC Davis

alumna sharon henn ’�2 Joins Management team

After more than 36 years of service at UC Davis, including the last 15 with the Graduate School of Management, Claudine Thompson retired this spring from her position as assistant dean of administrative services.

Thompson had been responsible for over-seeing the GSM’s fiscal operations and budget as well as all personnel matters related to faculty, students and staff. She also had oversight of the School’s computing services and project resources management departments.

Thompson first joined UC Davis in May 1965 and later left in 1983. She returned in 1988, joining the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. She came to the Graduate School of Management in 1992 and was named assistant dean in 2000.

The GSM community held a retirement celebration for Thompson at the end of May. “Claudine has been a quiet, essen-tial force behind the management of the School,” said Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart. “She manages the money and the staff, and has always done a great job with both. I am really going to miss her.”

After a nationwide search to fill Thompson’s shoes, the hiring committee only had to look across campus to find the top can-didate—GSM alumna Sharon Henn ’92, who started in mid-May as the School’s newly appointed assistant dean of busi-ness and finance.

Henn has 24 years of experience at UC Davis, most recently serving as the associ-ate accounting officer in the UC Davis Accounting and Financial Services. She also is a CPA.

“Attending the GSM was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I believe returning as a member of the School’s management team will prove to be another,” Henn said.

Dean Biggart, who was once one of Henn’s professors, praised her talents. “Sharon’s finance and management skills and experience are excellent,” Biggart said, “and we are very fortunate to have her as part of our senior staff.”

Claudine Thompson

Students and alumni again donned shorts, sneakers and ties to continue a venerable Graduate School of Management tradition: the PRECISION Briefcase Brigade contingent in the UC Davis Picnic Day parade.

Conceived by bleary-eyed business students during a late-night study session in 1982, the brigade has been a blue-chip entry in the parade ever since. Picnic Day is the largest student-run event in the nation, and UC Davis’ longest-running campus event. More than 70,000 attended the April 22 festivities. The parade weaves through downtown Davis and onto campus to kick off the day’s activities, a smorgasbord that celebrates the richness of campus life and the diverse achievements of the university’s faculty, students and staff.

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • �1GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • �1

in a

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by Tim

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In March, before their trip to Iran, Dean Nicole

Woolsey Biggart and Dr . Reza Abbaszadeh met

at UC Davis with Professor Mashayekhi Alinaghi

(left), the founding dean of the Graduate School of

Management and Economics at Sharif University in

Tehran, to talk about how the program will benefit the

students and both institutions .

The idea flowed from a conversation Reza Abbaszadeh

had with a fellow Iranian while they enjoyed a bike ride

along the American River in Sacramento. They spoke

about universities in Iran and the limited opportunity students

have there, both in their careers and in higher education.

It turns out Abbaszadeh’s friend, local businessperson Javad

Rahimian, serves as a trustee on the UC Davis Foundation, and

he and his wife, Sharin, had formed a scholarship endowment

fund at UC Davis for Iranian American students in need of

financial assistance.

“By the time that we finished the bike ride, we came up with this

concept that if there was funding for bright international students,

we could bring them to UC Davis,” Abbaszadeh explained.

Fast forward about a year and that oppor-

tunity is now a reality, thanks to a gift of

more than $113,000 from Abbaszadeh.

His support will fund the travel, living

expenses and education fees for six students

from Sharif University of Technology in

Tehran to study at the Graduate School

of Management for a quarter. Barring any

diplomatic snags, the first students will

come this fall.

Abbaszadeh attended UC Davis in the 1980s

and went on to become a dentist, but he was

drawn to the business side of the dental

field and now owns more than 15 practices.

Today he is CEO of Premier Access Insurance

Company in Rancho Cordova. He said his

experience as an immigrant has been

“extraordinary,” and he wants to help

expose others to U.S. culture.

“Certainly, the United States has the best universities—and the

best MBA programs. You have a terrific MBA program here at

UC Davis,” he said. “We have the most dynamic economy in

the world. For people who are ambitious and hardworking, this

still is the land of opportunities.”

Amid heightened political tensions over Iran’s nuclear program,

Abbaszadeh and Dean Nicole Woolsey Biggart traveled together

to Tehran in May to meet with Sharif University administrators

and faculty, and to interview potential students. To and from

Tehran, Abbaszadeh and Biggart made brief stop-

overs in Dubai to meet with U.S. consulate officials

to iron out logistics of the academic program.

Abbaszadeh praised UC Davis Chancellor Larry

Vanderhoef and Biggart for their enthusiastic

support of the program. Vanderhoef led a dele-

gation from UC Davis to Iran in 2004, including

a visit to Sharif University, paving the way for

Biggart and Abbaszadeh’s trip.

Biggart said the prospect of having visiting

students from Sharif University studying at the School will offer

GSM students a valuable international perspective.

“Many of our students have traveled to Europe and to Asia, but I

think that the Middle East is often distorted in their minds,” she

said. “I don’t think they understand there’s a large population of

highly educated people who want to connect with them. So, rather

than sending our MBA students there, we’re bringing those students

here. It’s a great opportunity.”

“It’s the Chancellor’s vision, Dean Biggart’s vision and this environment that have allowed this

program to happen . We are very fortunate to have UC Davis in

our community .”

— reza abbaszadeh, Ceo,

Premier access insurance

Company and benefactor of

fund to support six visiting

international students to

study at the GsM

r e z a a B B a s z a D e h ’ s G e n e r o s i t y o P e n s n e W o P P o r t U n i t y

New Fund for International Students to Study at GSM


First-year mBa student shilpi sharma hopes to use her business

education to start a global apparel company while continuing her work for

a non-profit scholarship fund that helps academically strong but economically

underprivileged students in her native India.

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Her extracurricular activities at the School include the

Community Consulting Group, Net Impact and the

International Business Club. While all have proven rewarding,

Sharma particularly cherishes her experiences leading a

team at last fall’s Thunderbird Innovation Challenge, an

annual “idea competition” among MBA students across

the U.S. “By collaborating and drawing on our diverse

backgrounds, we were able to accomplish great feats,” she

explains. “We didn’t win the competition, but we benefited

greatly from the amazing experience it presented us.”

Sharma’s interest in using her business skills to develop

innovative solutions is evident outside of the School as

well. In 2003 she contacted several former high school

classmates to discuss her vision of a scholarship fund to

assist academically strong but economically underprivi-

leged students.

In India, basic education is provided, but students from

low-income families have only very limited options beyond

this. Sharma’s non-profit organization, Kalpa Vriksha, provides

qualified students in small villages or towns with scholarships

and access to career planning and development resources.

In the past two years Sharma has returned to India three

times to meet with members of the local business commu-

nity, recruit volunteers and publicize Kalpa Vriksha’s efforts

through the media. “We started the scholarship with our

savings,” she reports, “but now we are getting sponsorships

from individuals and local businesses, and I am contacting

the community service departments of a few larger corp-

orations in India for the same.

“Last September we conducted an entrance exam and selected

18 students to receive a scholarship. They will be the first

in their families to benefit from an advanced education,

and for them, it will make the world of difference.”

to Fashion the Perfect Careerta K i n G t h e t i M e


Shilpi Sharma’s career has taken her from product

analyst at the Indian software solutions giant Tata

Infotech to the Graduate School of Management,

where she is acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary

to realize her dream job: founder and owner of a global

apparel business.

“When I moved to the

U.S. five years ago,”

Sharma says, “I was inter-

ested in transnational

comparisons in fashion

and quickly recognized

an opportunity for Indian

fashion, which lacks a

global brand. I hope to

change that.”

How do you move from

the empirical world of

science—Sharma has a master’s degree in physics from

New Delhi’s Indian Institute of Technology—to become

an entrepreneur in the fashion biz? For Sharma, the tran-

sition began when she realized that her consulting work

in the high-tech field, first in India and then at Deloitte

Consulting in Sacramento, had sparked a growing interest

in all areas of business.

“The UC Davis MBA program is providing me with more

than an education,” Sharma continues. “It is the perfect

bridge between where I am now and where I want to go

in my professional life. In the shorter term I will return to

consulting to further develop the skills I will need to start

my own company.”

Outside of the classroom, Sharma’s time is devoted to

myriad activities, including her part-time position with the

alternative investment management group at CalSTRS, the

nation’s second largest pension fund. “The learning curve

is pretty high,” she says, “but I enjoy working with such a

knowledgeable group of people.”

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GUerra finDs Bay area MBa ProGraM

a Perfect fit

Bay area mBa student edgar guerra

says balancing career and classes has been a challenge,

but it’s teaching him how to be more productive, set clear

priorities and make faster decisions as a senior associate

at PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Francisco.

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to Fashion the Perfect CareerEdgar Guerra was on a fast-track career path with the

U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco when

he decided to switch gears and enroll in graduate

school. Although five years in the fields of operational risk

management and business compliance with the Fed had been

a valuable experience, Guerra wanted to focus more on finance.

Originally, Guerra researched full-time MBA programs, but

he decided to pursue a working professional program so he

could continue advancing in his career. When he learned that

the UC Davis Graduate School of Management was opening

a Bay Area campus for working professionals, Guerra was

drawn to the new venture and enrolled in the charter class.

“It’s a growing program, big on collaboration and innovation,

which intrigued me,” Guerra says. “I’m passionate about

growth, and being a part of that was a huge pull for me.”

Guerra says the smaller class size is very different from

other schools he considered, and the close interaction

between students and faculty provides a strong sense of

community and camaraderie. Even the pick-up basketball

games every other Saturday after class build team spirit

with his classmates.

Guerra grew up in San Jose and attended UC Berkeley as an

undergraduate. He majored in economics, focusing on the

economic growth of developing nations. “It’s fascinating—

there’s more at play than just dollars and cents,” Guerra

says. “A lot of politics is involved.”

An internship his junior year with the San Francisco branch

of the Federal Reserve Bank led to a full-time position as

project manager for information technology services after

graduation. His first assignment was managing business

relationships between ITS project teams and business areas.

He then switched roles to serve as a project consultant for

corporate strategy before becoming a senior risk consultant.

As a risk consultant, Guerra developed and implemented

enterprise risk management and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance

programs, facilitating risk assessments regarding the controls

around financial reporting and operations.

“Governance and risk oversight have a huge impact on

companies,” Guerra says. “These career positions are

booming right now, thanks to the savings and loan scandal

of the 1980s, the Enron scandal and the events of 9/11.”

He estimates that compliance spending averages approximately

$1 million for every $1 billion in revenue; however, some companies

spend above the average, and others spend well below the average

to ensure accountability and trust with their shareholders.

Guerra enrolled in the Bay Area MBA program to focus on finance

and capitalize on the tools he had acquired as an undergraduate.

Shortly after starting his MBA, Guerra left the Fed to join

PricewaterhouseCoopers. His new career focuses on an industry

immersed in finance, mirroring the emphasis of his MBA.

As a senior associate in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ performance

improvement practice division, Guerra analyzes the financial effec-

tiveness of companies. He estimates that 80 percent of his work

hours are spent on the road, and he often flies back to the Bay Area

to attend classes every other weekend.

Guerra is also involved with the Bay Area program’s student leader-

ship, a role that keeps him in tune with the Graduate School of

Management’s Sacramento and Davis campuses. As of member of

the Bay Area MBA program’s charter class, he’s become a

champion for the School, encouraging colleagues and

associates from the financial sector to either get

involved or enroll in the GSM.

Finding a balance between career and

classes has been a challenge, but

Guerra says the process is teaching

him how to be more produc-

tive, set clear priorities and

make faster decisions.

“These three years are

likely to be some of the

most productive of my

life and that’s very

exciting,” Guerra says.

“I feel I’m absolutely

on track—this is a great

experience.”

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • ��

�� • sPrinG / sUMMer 2006

GsM stUDy linKs shareoWner aCtivisM to BiG finanCial GainsConfirming the CalPERS Effect

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Every spring the California Public Employees’

Retirement System (CalPERS) publicly

announces its “Focus List” of targeted

companies it intends to engage in shareowner activism

over corporate governance problems, with the implicit

expectation of reversing financial underperformance.

A recent study by UC Davis Graduate School Manage-

ment finance Professor Brad Barber presents empirical

evidence confirming that CalPERS’ shareowner activism

does indeed pay—to the tune of $3.1 billion in the short

run and an estimated $89.5 billion in the long run.

This link between

activism and financial

performance has been

dubbed the “CalPERS

Effect” elsewhere.

CalPERS is the nation’s

largest public pension

fund, with more than

$207 billion in assets.

to improve shareholder value should be well grounded

in scientific evidence—either theoretical or empirical

(preferably both).”

Barber lays out both theoretical and empirical evidence

supporting prudent shareowner activism. From a

theoretical perspective, he posits two “agency costs”—

on one side of the coin is the conflict of interests

between shareowners and corporate management;

on the other is the conflict between shareowners and

portfolio managers.

One example of the first problem is when corporate

managers seek to line their own pockets at the expense

of shareowner value. This is precisely what CalPERS

targets with its Focus Lists by filing shareowner resolu-

tions on governance problems such as boards that

lack independence. Shareowner activism aimed at

curbing such agency costs meets with Barber’s approval.

“All shareholder proposals at Focus List firms

sponsored by CalPERS were designed to improve

shareholder rights,” Barber states.

Before considering the second agency cost, it makes

sense to examine Barber’s own empirical evidence

documenting the financial impacts of shareowner

activism. Barber tracks the financial performance of the

115 Focus List companies for the 14-year period ending

2005 (while CalPERS initiated its Focus List activism

in 1987, it did not start publicly announcing the list

until 1992, hence the starting point of the study.)

These companies include AT&T and Weyerhaeuser in

2005, Disney and Shell in 2004, Xerox in 2003, Gateway

in 2002, and Advanced Micro Devices in 1993, 1998

and 2000.

Barber breaks his results into two batches, looking first

at short-term results, and then at long-term returns.

“My short-run analysis indicates that CalPERS activism

yields small, but reliably positive, market reactions of

23 basis points (bps) on the date Focus List firms are

publicly announced,” Barber says, noting this amounts

to $224 million annually, or $3.1 billion over the

14 years. “My long-run analysis yields intriguing

but inconclusive results.”

Barber’s study, “Monitoring the Monitor: Evaluating

CalPERS’ Shareholder Activism,” distinguishes

between activism intended to improve shareowner

value and activism seeking to advance political agendas.

“Institutional activism is a double-edged sword,” he

writes. “When prudently applied, activism can provide

effective monitoring of publicly traded corporations.

“When abused, portfolio managers can pursue their

personal agendas at the expense of those whose money

they manage,” he adds. “Institutional activism designed

Examining companies publicly targeted for governance

reform by CalPERS, Professor Brad Barber’s recent study presents

data and analysis correlating the pension fund’s activism

to increasing shareowner value—as well as some

cautionary notes .

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • �5

GsM stUDy linKs shareoWner aCtivisM to BiG finanCial GainsConfirming the CalPERS Effect

GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent • �5

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/calpersstudy

“Portfolios of Focus List firms earn annualized abnor-

mal returns ranging from 2.4 to 4.8 percentage points

annually at holding periods ranging from six months

to five years,” he continues. “If these abnormal returns

are causally linked to the activism of CalPERS, the

wealth creation is enormous—as much as 20 times

greater than the short-run benefits and as large as

$89.5 billion through December 2005.”

Barber cautions that such a causal link is tenuous, as

other factors almost certainly contribute. By the same

token, however, Barber notes that the Focus List com-

panies are only the “tip of the iceberg” of CalPERS’

activism, and that it almost certainly reaps similar

financial benefits from its less publicized activism.

Counterbalancing these potential financial benefits are

potential financial pitfalls of activism. Returning to

the second agency cost, Barber characterizes it as mis-

directed shareowner activism—or activism that is not

directly linked to improving shareowner value. He

cites the example of CalPERS’ 2000 decision to divest

from tobacco, which was not rooted in any empirical

evidence of financial benefit.

Barber does not insist that all activism must improve

shareowner value, but he does suggest that activism

unlinked to financial gain should at least align with

the interests of beneficiaries.

“When institutional activism cannot be reasonably

expected to maximize shareholder value, the prefer-

ences of investors should be given top priority,” Barber

explains. “Institutions must open lines of communication with

investors; they must understand how investors stand on moral

issues that might affect investment policy.”

“Most institutions simply ignore moral considerations when

investing,” he adds. “Unfortunately, ignoring these consider-

ations is not necessarily in the best interests of investors.”

In April CalPERS released its 2006 Focus List, singling out six

U.S. companies for poor financial and corporate governance

performance: Brocade Communications of San Jose, Calif.;

Cardinal Health of Dublin, Ohio; Clear Channel

Communications of San Antonio, Tex.; Mellon Financial of

Pittsburgh, Penn.; OfficeMax of Itasca, Ill.; and Sovereign

Bancorp of Philadelphia, Penn.

“The stock performance and governance of these companies is

unacceptable to us and other shareowners,” CalPERS Board

President Rob Feckner said in a statement. “We are urging

them to make such improvements as requiring majority voting

for directors, removing excessive takeover defenses that prevent

shareowners from amending company bylaws, and accounting

for their performance.”

It remains to be seen whether these companies will experience

the CalPERS Effect.

© 2006 SRI World Group, Inc .

For more information and to download the study, visit:

• institutional activism—like CalPers'

focus lists—can expand shareholder

rights and create billions of dollars

in wealth.

• CalPers' shareholder activism has

resulted in short-term wealth creation

estimated at $�.1 billion between

1��2 and 2005.

• long-run benefits of CalPers' activism,

though more difficult to estimate,

could be as high as $8�.5 billion.

• When taking positions on sensitive

moral or political issues, portfolio

managers should pursue their inves-

tors' interests rather than their own.

• institutions should better understand

where investors stand on moral issues

that might affect investment policy.

CalPERS Study Quick Facts


Assistant Professor Beth Bechky

Professor Emeritus Richard Dorf

faCUlty researCh faCUlty researCh faCUlty researChFacultY ReseaRchOrganizations come in many forms, from

more traditional, formal hierarchies found in

corporations and government departments, to

less hierarchical, project-based organizations

such as theater, commercial construction sites

and film production sets. The latter, referred

to as “temporary organizations,” have proven

more flexible and capable of accomplishing

objectives efficiently and successfully under

intense time constraints. In her study titled

“Gaffers, Gofers and Grips: Role-Based

Coordination in Temporary Organizations,”

which was published in the January-February

2006 issue of Organization Science, Assistant Professor Beth Bechky

differentiates temporary from more traditional organizations. From her

observations working on several film productions—two movies, a music

video and a commercial—Bechky identifies how temporary organizations

accomplish objectives while lacking the stable rules, long-term job security,

hierarchies and traditional structures associated with large bureaucracies.

Bechky found that crew members bring with them some sense of what

their roles will be, given the conventions of the film industry. These role

expectations emerged more fully once individuals arrive at the set and

begin interacting with other members of the crew. Communication through

enthusiastic thanking, polite admonishing and role-oriented joking rein-

forces the expected role structures. Specific working roles are embraced

because each job can lead to future employment opportunities within the

industry. Bechky’s article offers important information for managers working

in the high-tech industry, where job security and the use of creative talent are

challenging, and for those who rely on a contract work force.

* * *

Technology Ventures: From Idea to Opportunity

(McGraw-Hill, 2005), a full-length textbook

by Professor Emeritus Richard Dorf

and Professor Tom Byers of the Stanford

Technology Ventures Program, has shot to

number one in sales this year in the market

segment that includes engineering schools

and engineering management programs

in business schools. “This is quite a feat

considering this is the first edition of the

book, and it usually takes the production

of three separate editions before a book

becomes the leader in the market,” explains

McGraw-Hill representative Suzanne Jeans. The book shows how successful

entrepreneurs pursued and realized their dreams, the risks they took, how

they recognized useful and profitable ventures, and how they built effective

enterprises. The authors rely on real-life examples of successful entrepreneurs,

and expand on their methods for success. Technology Ventures also has valuable

lessons for a more general management school perspective and readership.

GSM Faculty Research Popularity Ranks among Top 50 U.S. Business Schools

T he UC Davis Graduate School of Management

has been ranked among the top 50 business

schools in the nation for the number of faculty

research papers ever downloaded from the Social

Science research network (SSrn). As of late April, the

School ranks 49th overall.

With a small, research-active faculty, the Graduate

School of Management also ranks ninth for the

number of research papers downloaded per author.

The Web-based network ranks more than 800 busi-

ness schools worldwide on nine separate measures,

including total lifetime downloads of their faculty’s

papers on SSrn, total number of papers on SSrn,

total number of authors, and downloads per paper

and per author.

remarkably, only eight current Graduate School of

Management faculty members have research papers

posted to the network. Many of the top-ranked U.S.

business schools have five, 10 and even 20 times that

many faculty contributors.

SSrn is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination

of social science research and is composed of a number

of specialized research networks in each of the social

sciences. The SSrn eLibrary consists of two parts: a

database containing abstracts of more than 115,900

scholarly working papers and forthcoming papers, and

an electronic paper collection with more than 87,500

downloadable full-text PDFs.

Since the SSrn records the number of times a paper has

been downloaded by unique users, it is a reliable indicator

of the peer interest in faculty and their research.

www.ssrn.com


Professor Paul Griffin

faCUlty researCh faCUlty researCh faCUlty researCh

Professor Paul Griffin served as

an expert witness in the Federal

Court of Claims case, Bank of America

v . The United States, 2005. In this

precedent-setting case, Bank of

America sued the federal government

for taxes it might pay on breach-

of-contract damages. This breach

was the result of federal regulations

instigated following the deregulation

of the savings and loan industry in

the early 1980s. Griffin weighed in

significantly on the court’s decision

to not allow Bank of America to collect the additional taxes as

damages. The deregulation of the savings and loan industry

perpetuated several years of unmitigated graft and fraudulent

investments that destabilized the market. In response, the federal

government imposed regulations in the form of several acts,

including the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and

Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), which slapped investment

institutions with a series of rules that conflicted with previous

contractual agreements with the government. For instance, a

common practice during company acquisitions prior to this

regulation was the regulatory accounting principle known as

“supervisory goodwill.” In the post-FIRREA era, financial institutions

have not been allowed to use this accounting principle, prompting

several to file lawsuits against the government. Most financial

institutions won the breach-of-contract cases, but some decided

to take it further by suing for the taxes they might pay in the

future on damages because their supervisory goodwill was taken

away. Bank of America sought claims of $100 million in lost

capital due to the disallowed supervisory goodwill, and also

demanded millions of dollars of taxes that might be paid under

the new regulations. Griffin argued that a tax gross-up, or tax

reimbursement, was inappropriate in this instance because the

damages Bank of America was seeking constituted the replacement

of lost capital and, as such, cannot be the subject of taxation.

The court agreed that no tax gross-up should be awarded—and

Griffin’s recommendation saved tax payers millions of dollars.

Associate Professor Andrew Hargadon

Associate Professor Andrew

Hargadon’s book How Breakthroughs

Happen: The Surprising Truth about

How Companies Innovate (Harvard

Business School Press, 2003) is one

of 12 books from a field of more

than 90 candidates that have been

selected for the first global book

club focused on innovation. A

group of senior innovation leaders

chose the books based on their

power to stimulate thought and

practical application. The book club

is sponsored by the InnovationNetwork, a global community of

innovation practitioners that helps individuals and organizations

develop a greater competency through conferences, events and

training programs. Hargadon’s book was selected for its emphasis

on networking and borrowing from existing technology in other

arenas. In it, he outlines “technology bro-

kering,” and shows that it has been the

force behind numerous celebrated inven-

tions. He takes readers behind the

scenes—from Edison’s Menlo Park lab

to IDEO—to illustrate strategies for

sourcing, nurturing and exploiting

ideas in new ways for new markets.

In April Hargadon traveled to

London to work with Professor

Jennifer Whyte of Imperial College’s

Tanaka Business School on a first-hand look at the

emergence of new construction technologies, such as structural

glass. Hargadon and Whyte are interested in studying the role of

experts in leading technological change, particularly as they serve

as trusted intermediaries who vet and vouch for safe, new technol-

ogies. While in Europe, Hargadon also presented his paper, “The

Networks of Innovation,” at the Copenhagen Business School.

Hargadon has been named a 2005–2006 Chancellor’s Fellow,

a prestigious campus honor designed to encourage young UC

Davis faculty members who show great promise in their academic

careers. As one of only five fellows named this year, Hargadon

received $25,000, which he plans to use to develop a research

tool for understanding teaching and developing the role of social

networks in individual innovation and entrepreneurship. Since

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef launched the fellows program in 2000,

37 fellows have been named, including the GSM’s Professor

Kimberly Elsbach (2004) and Professor Prasad Naik (2005).


Professor Michael Hagerty

Professor Kimberly Elsbach

FacultY ReseaRch faCUlty researCh faCUlty researCh faCUlty researCh


* * *

Professor Michael Hagerty and

Professor Kenneth C. Land of

the Department of Sociology at

Duke University had their paper

“Constructing Summary Indices

of Quality of Life: A Model for

the Effect of Heterogeneous

Importance Weights” published

recently in the journal Sociological

Methods and Research . In the arti-

cle Hagerty and Land construct

summary indices (e.g., quality of

life indices) for a social unit (e.g.,

cities, states, nations) that will be endorsed by a majority of its

citizens. They assume that many indicators are available to

describe the social unit, but researchers disagree about the rela-

tive weights that each should be assigned. The summary index

maximizes agreement among citizens, along with conditions

under which an index will be endorsed by a majority in the

social unit. The authors show that, in every case, intuition great-

ly underestimates the extent of agreement among individuals,

and that it is often possible to construct a quality of life index

with which a majority of citizens agree (at least in direction).

In particular, they conclude that the equal-weighting strategy is

privileged in that it minimizes disagreement among all possible

individual weights. When the actual distribution of individual

weights is known, one can improve agreement further. Hagerty

and Land demonstrate these propositions by calculating real

quality of life indices for two surveys of citizens’ actual impor-

tance weights.

Professor Hagerty has announced that he will retire from the

Graduate School of Management as of July 1. He will hold the

title professor emeritus. Hagerty plans to spend next year at the

UC San Francisco Medical Center, where he will study neurology

and brain imaging, with applications for consumer behavior

and satisfaction.

Professor Kimberly Elsbach’s new

book, Organizational Perception

Management (Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates) was published in April.

Her work summarizes research findings

from the relatively new domain of

study called “organizational perception

management” (OPM), which examines

how organization spokespersons

influence audiences’ perceptions of

their organizations in light of both

good and bad events (e.g., an orga-

nizational innovation or an orga-

nizational scandal). Although perception management has been

studied at the individual level since the 1960s, organization-level

perception management (i.e., tactics designed to affect perceptions

of the image, identity or reputation of an organization) was first

examined in the 1980s through the study of corporate annual

reports and their effects on organizational reputations. In the sub-

sequent decades empirical studies have expanded the domain of

OPM to include the management of organizational identities (e.g.,

what it means to be a “green” organization), as well as the strategic

management of specialized organizational images for specific audi-

ences (e.g., what images to present to stockholders vs. consumers).

Elsbach’s book draws on current case studies and empirical and

qualitative field research to provide a comprehensive understanding

of OPM and its effectiveness. The book is intended for students,

scholars and practitioners of organizational management.

In honor of Chinese President Hu

Jintau’s visit to the International Center

for Finance in April, the Yale School

of Management hosted a conference

to explore and assess the history, pres-

ent state and future prospects of various

Chinese industries. Assistant Professor

Ning Zhu, a specialist in finance and

statistics, was invited to present his

paper, “Chinese Bond Market, The Past,

Present and Future.” The paper reviews

bond issuances and transactions going

back to the 1860s, when China was ruled by the Quing Dynasty.

Zhu discussed the historical reasons for a relatively underdeveloped

bond market (compared to equity market) in China by considering

historical and political events as a cause of this underdevelopment.

Zhu, who earned his Ph.D. from Yale, concluded with an optimistic

forecast for the development of the bond market over the next few

years. Zhu plans to publish his recent work in a comprehensive book

in the near future.

Assistant Professor Ning Zhu


Professor Anand Swaminathan

faCUlty researCh faCUlty researCh faCUlty researCh

International Scholars Share Breakthrough Researchby Jacqueline Romo

The Graduate School of Management hosted the sixth annual

Davis Conference on Qualitative research from March 24–26,

attracting top scholars to share their work, brainstorm new

ideas and explore possible future collaborations.

researchers from oxford’s Said Business School, the University

of Alberta’s School of Business, the yale School of Management

and the Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine were

among the eight invited presenters.

While the conference receives much attention from qualitative

researchers nationally and internationally, “We maintained the

small size of the conference so scholars are comfortable sharing

their research, receiving substantive feedback from the other

participants and networking with one another,” explained

Professor Kimberly Elsbach, who co-organized the conference

with Assistant Professor Beth Bechky.

The conference focused on four main themes: constructing

industries and careers, creating organizations and jobs, shap-

ing and institutionalizing work practices, and conflict and

cohesiveness in organizations. The research presented included

studies of the impact of industrial technology design in shap-

ing jobs, an examination of individuals’ impact on institutional

change in the nursing industry, and a report on how relational

theory explains the benefits conflict can have in organizations.

Since the conference began in 2001, each year two scholars are

recognized with the conference’s Best Paper Award. Elsbach

compiled the winning papers from 2001–2004 into an edited

volume titled Qualitative Organizational Research (Information

Age Publishing, 2005). “The book is selling briskly on Amazon.

com and is a nice recognition for those scholars who participat-

ed and produced fascinating work,” Elsbach said. This year’s

awards went to Elizabeth Long Lingo of vanderbilt University

and Elizabeth Craig of Boston University.

The conference concluded with an overnight stay in napa

valley and a wine tasting hosted by Phil Hurst, founder of

Wineryexchange.com.


Professor Anand Swaminathan,

a specialist in organizational theory

and strategy, joined forces with

Professor Arturs Kalnins of Cornell

University’s School of Hotel

Administration and Professor Will

Mitchell of Duke University’s

Fuqua School of Business to study

how a small, multi-unit organiza-

tion benefits from information

gathered from other markets in

which it competes. Their paper,

“Turnover Events, Vicarious

Information and the Reduced Likelihood of Outlet-Level Exit

among Small Multi-unit Organizations,” was published in the

January–February 2006 issue of the journal Organization Science .

According to Swaminathan and his co-authors, it is commonly

understood that organizations learn not only from their own

mistakes, but also from the experiences of other organizations.

The research team examined significant events that promoted

the release of vicarious information such as turnover events,

where a store or outlet changes ownership, or going-out-of-busi-

ness events. They collected data on exits and entries for non-

franchised pizza restaurants, drug stores and video rental outlets

within each zip code in Texas over the period 1991–1999. Their

analysis shows that the likelihood of an outlet’s exit declines

when there are many ownership transfers and exit-entry pairs in

other markets where the owner also operates. The authors offer

two reasons why ownership transfers are likely to release valuable

information to competitors. First, ownership transfers allow

competitors to relate differences in business strategies between

new and previous owners, and competitors adapt their own

strategies in response to the turnover event. Second, competitors

glean information from newly hired employees previously

employed by the outlet undergoing ownership change.

Anecdotal data in the form of interviews with owners of pizza

restaurants, drug stores and video outlets further support the

researchers’ findings.

Swaminathan and his colleagues Professor Premkumar Devanbu

and Professor Michael Gertz, both of the UC Davis Computer

Science Department, were awarded a $125,000 National Science

Foundation research grant for their paper, “Mining Problem-solving

Behavior from Open Source Repositories.” Their interdisciplinary

collaboration builds on existing work by explicitly connecting

software engineering imperatives to the techniques of social science.

Swaminathan also participated in the keynote panel on research

programs in international business at the annual meeting of the

European International Business Association in Oslo, Norway,

in December.

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/alumni/aspn.htm

1986 Kevin skaggs: I’ve started a blog: http://theformofmoney.blogharbor.com/blog

1987 Brian Watnick, esq.: I have opened my own law firm and continue to represent employers and insurance companies in worker’s compensation defense. Additionally, I obtained my brokers license and am now the managing broker for the Ventura office of Goodwin & Thyne Properties. We help buyers and sellers with real estate transactions and save them thousands of dollars as we only charge 1.5% commission!

1992 Karol aure Flynn: Matt and I are still living a remarkable life on the Flynn Ranch, with open space and fresh air for Lucy, 2, and Elsa, who is 2 months old. I’m taking on a few consulting projects but mostly loving my role as a mom.

dave Roughton: I recently was promoted from CFO to executive vice president, chief operating officer at SAFE Credit Union. In addition to my CFO responsibilities, which I retained, I am now responsible for the retail sales channel. My wife, Karen, continues to teach in the art department at American River College. Our daughter, Sydney, is a sophomore at the University of San Francisco. Our son, Patrick, is in eighth grade in Davis, experiencing all that it means to be a teenager.

1996 steve spadarotto: I am now senior vice president at Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines Co.—probably a reflection of how darned old I’m getting. I was recently appointed to serve a three-year term on the board of the Carneros Wine Alliance to assist them with enhancing their strategic focus. The Carneros Wine Alliance was the first trade association to give equal weight to the importance of both vintners and growers, when it comes to what is poured into a wine glass. I am looking forward to this opportunity.

1997 anne peairs cullen: My husband, Shawn, ‘97, was recently promoted to director, government and industrial products, for CamelBak Products. Shawn, Tucker, Chloe and I are enjoying life in Sonoma County.

Rory Jaffe: As executive director of medical services for the University of California Office of the President, I have management responsibility for oversight of clinical activities throughout the UC system. My role includes providing medical leadership and direction to the clinical policy review process; developing system-wide clinical policy, guidelines and best practice models for UC academic medical centers and medical staff; and ensuring compliance with UC, federal and state policies, laws and regulations.

Byron streitz: My wife, Cyndy, and I have relocated to Eagle, Idaho. We love it here. The people are very friendly. There is some beautiful country, and the real estate market is both hot and affordable compared to California. I’ve started a new career in real estate and am having a ball.

1998 Rosanna trevisan: 2006 is an exciting year for me and my family. My husband, Geoff, was offered an 11-month expat assignment at Intel in Malaysia. Since we both work for Intel, I was able to arrange an assignment managing a group of 16 planners in Intel’s assembly and test operations in Penang, Malaysia. Our son, Brian, 2 1/2, is attending a local Montessori school. Penang’s three main ethnic groups—Malay, Chinese and Indian—each have a unique cuisine and their own celebrations. In between the challenges of our assignments, we are planning to travel in Malaysia, Thailand and even Australia in the fall.

1999 Janet Brown: My husband and I began 2006 with a great blessing: the birth of our son, Francisco Javier. We’re exhausted but having a great time. In early summer I’ll return to work as a marketing brand manager for Valent USA.

marla denning: Jeff Oldberg ‘99 and I welcomed our son, Jackson Davis Oldberg, on March 8. I am taking a six-month maternity leave from Hewlett- Packard, which is one of the benefits of working for H-P. Jeff’s real estate business is going well.

matt mynttinen: May 1 was my last day at BearingPoint, and after seven years in Big 5 consulting I plan to take some time off. I will be spending the summer working on my house in Oakland and traveling in the U.S. In the fall I will head to Southeast Asia, India and maybe Europe for a few months. At the end of the year I expect to announce either a new job or early retirement on a Thai beach. Wish me luck!

mark schmidt: After being a member of SunPower’s IPO team (NASDAQ: SPWR) as the corporate finance manager, I’m transitioning to a new role. I’ll be the finance manager for SunPower’s North American distribution business, which is aiming to revolutionize the way solar systems are sold in this country. This new role will allow me to contribute to strategic decisions in a fast-growing business that is truly making a difference in the world.

Bert Wallace: I had a great time at Waste Expo in Las Vegas. But as the saying goes: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

2000 Ryan chin: I am on the board of the CAPITAL Foundation, www.capitalfoundation.org, a 501(3)c that is forging community strength through education and partnerships. Please contact me for information about becoming involved.

Kelly corliss: On July 20, baby number three was born. Sean was 9 pounds, 7 ounces; he loves being a baby brother to Nicole, 2 ½, and Justin, 4 ½. I am enjoying staying home full time.

tom Kindle: Jennifer and I are pleased to announce the birth of Elise Morgan Kindle on July 20, 2005. Elise weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces and was 18 inches in length at birth. At 8 months she weighs a whopping 16 pounds and is 24 inches in length.


www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/alumni/aspn.htm

GsM GraDs: let’s Do BUsiness

Alumni Strategic Provider Network By Vinny Catalano ‘97

We all went to the same outstanding business school, so why not do business together?

That’s the idea behind the new Alumni

Strategic Provider Network (ASPN), kicked

off in March. We are bringing together

Graduate School of Management alumni

involved in business-to-business services

such as law, tax, consulting, real estate,

financial planning, wealth management,

banking and employee benefits who you can

call upon to meet your company’s corporate

and your personal needs.

ASPN is being piloted in the Sacramento

region, where the group will meet monthly

to share referrals, network and hear about

current issues of interest to the group.

Once established, we plan to expand ASPN to

include all GSM alumni. We are looking for

leaders to spearhead the expansion into the

Bay Area and Southern California.

Questions? Please contact Alumni

Board member Vinny Catalano ’97 at

[email protected].

To find out who is currently in the network and to join, visit:


A l u m n i A s s o c i A t i o n c l A s s n o t e s

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/alumni/update.htm

eric saldanha: After much deliberation, I decided to move back to my hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., in November 2005, to be closer to my family. I dearly miss my GSM “family” and hope that if any of you come to New York for business or travel, you’ll let me know.

dave setton: Rachel and I have a new arrival in our family. Zoe Hannah was born on February 22 at 2:10PM. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and we think she is cute as a button.

2001 sara desmond: We are thrilled to announce the arrival of Lily Perini Desmond, who joined us on February 3 at 2:28AM after a pretty fast delivery (phew!). Born a healthy 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches long, she’s already put on lots of weight. Everyone is doing great, including big brother Rowan, who likes to give her big kisses and look at her “tiny legs.”

manish gajjar: My wife, Neeta, and I and our two beautiful kids, Aryan and Amani, are enjoying our time with my parents. With the tools I acquired getting my MBA, I find it easy to manage cross-country projects. I am today very proud to say that I graduated from the GSM. I just miss those hectic classes and friends.

Blake Johnson: Desiree and I are enjoying our move to Oregon, where I am currently work-ing for the state as a budget and policy analyst.

2002 cy aram: I am coming up on one year with Hewlett-Packard. I’m having a great time, and part of a—get this—all-male staff, most of them MBAs and all very bright. Makes for some good poker nights, too. I’m trying to find time for a Six Sigma certification. On the home front, I am looking to take a few vacations to warm, sunny, non-connected locations this summer. Cheers to all!

anna Becker: I am working at Microsoft, loving Tahoe living…and surprise! Jim and I have a new addition to our little family. Tommy joined big sister Kate in early March. We’re all doing well and are looking forward to a second informal Class of 2002 reunion some time this summer.

andy Bernadett: Sign of the apocalypse: I just read that fellow alumnus Pete Anderson is heading toward adulthood. That can’t be good. I am really having a great time: four kids in high school, lots of sports—especially basketball and tennis—and a really great wife. Pete, I’ve talked to some people who know, and they say adulthood is way overrated. Just don’t do it.

2003 Joe Kazmierczak: If you’re looking for something to read, check out The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene.

eric olson: Heather and I are happy to announce the arrival of Anna Faith Olson. She entered the world on March 3 and has been well received by big brother Grant.

gwynne spann: Last August, Jason and I welcomed our first child, Kayla Shelbourne, into our lives. I have since transitioned into a part-time position at Intel so that I can spend more time with our little one.

Jennifer vogt: As a senior internal auditor at Hewlett-Packard, I was recognized for outstand-ing leadership for overall Sarbanes-Oxley effort in 2005. I lead global treasury SOx testing. I moved to IT audit on February 1.

matt Weeks: Norma and I moved to Fresno in May, 2005, when I accepted a position as finance manager for E. & J. Gallo’s Fresno winery. We welcomed our son, Bryce, into this world on January 2006. He is the first grand-child on his father’s side of the family and has been showered with love and gifts.

daniel Weinreb: After a year in business-to-business marketing and a year consulting for Gartner’s public sector group, in 2005 I decided to go into non-profit work as a VISTA volunteer. The organization I’m with appreciates my MBA skills, and it is likely that I will join on as director. In my spare time I continue to enjoy puppetry and baking, and have taken up hunting and horseback riding. I am also work-ing on two start-ups, one in solar, the other in real estate.

2005 sean Foster: In April I moved from Peju to become the winemaker for Merryvale Vineyards. We are opening a new facility in south Napa this summer. Our goal is to craft elegant, complex, world-class wines in the finest European style that also reflect the exuberant fruit from Napa Valley’s finest vineyards.

connie Ward: After completing the MBA program, I was fortunate to start a new career working with GSIC Biologicals. Without my education, it would have been unlikely that I would secure such an excellent position.


www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/alumni/update.htm

commencement ceRemonY & Reception

saturday, June 1� • 10:00aM – noon

Ceremony at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis Campus

Keynote Speaker: William Sullivan, President & CEO, Agilent Technologies

Reception in gsm courtyard (aoB iv)

noon – 1:00PM

executive leadeRship consoRtium WoRKshop

Wednesday, July 12 • 8:00aM – noon

Professor Kimberly Elsbach, UC Davis Graduate School of Management

Topic: Personalized Leadership Profile—Based on the Widely Acclaimed “Leadership Challenge” Model of Leadership by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

One Capitol Mall, Sacramento

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/execed


Wednesday, september 6 • 8:00aM – noon

Professor Joseph Harder, The Darden School of Management

Topic: Leadership in the Trenches: How Professionals Lead Everyday



“looKing BacK, moving FoRWaRd”25th anniveRsaRY celeBRation KicK-oFF

friday – saturday, october 6–�

UC Davis Campus

• Dean’s Fall Luncheon on Friday Featured speaker: Bruce Bodaken, chairman, CEO and president, Blue Shield of California

• Silver Celebration, featuring time capsule, BBQ, presentations

• Special reunion for the Classes of ‘86, ‘91, ‘96 and ‘01

• Gala Celebration Saturday evening

uc davis gsm Fall 2006 mBa caReeR FaiR

thursday, october 12 • 6:00PM – 8:00PM

Freeborn Hall, UC Davis Campus

Alumni are encouraged to recruit MBAs for their companies.

Register online @ www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/MBACareerFair


Wednesday, november 15 • 8:00aM – noon

Professor Daniel Cable, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Topic: Organizational Culture and the Employee Value Proposition



c A l e n D A R


A l u m n i A s s o c i A t i o n c l A s s n o t e sof Alumni Events

tell Us What’s neW! senD Us yoUr Class notes online @

For the 11th consecutive year, the University of California, Davis, Graduate

School of Management has been recognized as one of the best business schools

in the country by U.S.News & World Report.

In U.S.News & World Report’s most recent annual survey, the magazine places

the UC Davis MBA program 21st among business schools at public universities

and 46th overall.

The UC Davis MBA program has been ranked in the top 50 every year since 1996,

and continues to be the youngest business school within a public institution ever

ranked by the magazine. With 117 full-time MBA students, it is the second smallest

business school ranked in the top 50.

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management is one of only 35 business schools

to be ranked in the top 50 for 11 consecutive years.

i n t h e t o p 5 0

11 Years

UC Davis GraDUate sChool of ManaGeMent

fall 2006 MBa Career fair

thursday, october 12 • 6:00PM – 8:00PM

freeBorn hall • UC Davis CaMPUs

reGister online @

R ec R u i t e R s — s a v e t h e d at e

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/MBaCareerfair

www.gsm.ucdavis.edu

Nonprofit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

UC Davis

s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 0 6 years 11 · ceo, westaff inc. carol bartz ceo, autodesk inc....

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