Sneak Peak: State of the School
Pac Rim Trip Is More Popular Than Ever
China Trip Yields Technology Trends
Haas Lands Football Star
New ATMs On Campus
Haas Enquirer: Lucinda Watson
Undergraduate Global Mgmt Concentration
Global Economic Award: Scott Galloway, MBA 92
Help Colombian Earthquake Victims
Happening This Week
Haas NewsWire Archive
Contact Haas NewsWire
FUTURE OF HAAS SCHOOL TO BE MAIN TOPIC OF DEAN'S ADDRESS ON FEBRUARY 2ND
Dean Laura Tyson will discuss her vision and forward-looking agenda for the Haas School of Business during her State of the School Address this week. The talk will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 12:30 pm in the BankAmerica Forum. The Dean plans to describe a series of evolving, ambitious plans for growth, improvement, and change throughout the school.
All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend. After her remarks, the Dean will take questions from the audience.
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PAC RIM TRIP GROWING IN POPULARITY
A record 75 Haas MBAs went to Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia this year for the annual two-week Pacific Rim trip, presented by the Pacific Rim Club. According to outgoing Pac Rim Club president Rich Chen, the two-week tour is one of the largest international study tours of its kind in a US MBA program. And Fortune Asia, which recognized Haas as the best US school for Asian MBAs last October, cites the annual trip as one of many strengths of the Haas program.
For some Haas students, the Pac Rim trip is an opportunity to experience the business environments in Asia for the first time. For others, the trip is an opportunity to go home, and to share their culture and work experiences with Haas classmates.
The Pac Rim trip destination changes annually. Japan and Malaysia were chosen this year to capture both developed and developing economies. But the trip's most significant objective, to give students a first-hand look at the Asian economy, remains the same with each visit. And given the current economic changes in the region, it truly was an extraordinary and historic time to visit Japan and Malaysia.
The students picked up many cues of economic change. Merrill Lynch branches, having taken over the failed Yamaichi Securities, were seen throughout Tokyo; Malaysia's new currency controls yielded strict declaration forms upon entry and exit; and Dean Laura Tyson was seen on CNN International discussing the "Economics of Impeachment."
Pac Rim students were graciously received by a range of businesses and engaged in informative and often surprisingly candid discussions. "They welcomed us with open arms despite the busy New Year's season in Japan, and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Malaysia," said Pac Rim officer Michael Dennis. Students were also treated to a delightful reception, organized by Akito Yamazaki, MBA 82, president of the Haas Alumni Chapter in Tokyo, and Eric Rutledge, director, UCLA/UCB Asia Office, and underwritten by a number of highly supportive alumni.
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CHINA TRIP YIELDS TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
A small and multi-national group of first-year Haas MBAs also headed east over winter break. Che Mott, Andres Herreros, Hidetoshi Ito, and Kaoru Kano traveled to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai to survey business trends, particularly those in high tech. According to Mott, the trip wouldn't have been possible without the help of Haas alumni and supporters. "Tenny Frost, the Haas Alumni Network, and our ties with the China Business Group really helped us get in touch with the right people."
In Hong Kong, students met with Haas alumni working for Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and Merrill Lynch as well as with alumni working for Hong Kong-based consumer product companies. The group also met with Microsoft, Motorola, Novell, HP, and other international high tech companies throughout China.
Students also had the unique opportunity to visit local software companies, such as Shanghai Huateng Software Systems. "Hearing about the vision for things like e-commerce in China is exciting," said Mott. But the future is also filled with challenges. The high tech workers students spoke with say that credit card validation is one of the biggest obstacles to e-commerce in China. Shanghai Huateng has just completed a system to help alleviate this problem in Shanghai.
The group also learned about how foreign investment in China has facilitated growth in different economic development zones when they toured a Motorola cellular and paging manufacturing plant in Tianjin. The tour was generously arranged by the president of Motorola University, Bill Wiggenhorn, who led a case study at Haas last November.
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FOOTBALL STAR CITES HAAS SCHOOL AS MAJOR FACTOR IN COMING TO CAL
Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the top college football prospects in the nation, cited the Haas School of Business (tied for 3rd in the latest US News and World Report undergraduate business school rankings) as a major factor in his decision to verbally commit to Cal on January 20, according to reports in the San Francisco Chronicle and The Daily Californian. Asomugha plans to major in finance.
Asomugha, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound defensive back from Norbonne High School in Harbor City, California, was rated the No. 7 prep safety in the nation by Student Sports magazine and the 19th-best defensive back in the nation by SuperPrep magazine.
"I wanted to see where I would grow more on a level besides football," Asomugha told The Daily Cal. "If it had just been about football, I would probably be at UCLA."
The high school senior had 86 tackles and seven interceptions this season, and forced eight fumbles, recovering five. With 4.37 speed in the 40-yard dash, he could play safety or cornerback for the Cal Bears.
"We've learned how to whip them in case competitions, "said Dan Himelstein, BS 83, Haas undergraduate program director. "Is it possible that we can start beating them on the gridiron too, with Haas student-athletes at the helm? You can't blame an old alum like me for dreaming a little bit."
Asomugha joins what could be shaping up as one of the best recruiting classes in Cal football history. Other outstanding recruits who have recently committed to Cal include Kyle Boller from Hart High School in Newhall, California, rated among the nation's top five high school quarterbacks; De La Salle's Atari Callen, the Bay Area and Northern California high school player of the year, rated the nation's No. 5 cornerback by Student Sports magazine; and running back Joe Igber from Iolani High School in Honolulu, who owns nine state records in Hawaii.
Signing day for college football is Wednesday, February 3.
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VERSATELLER SERVICE STARTS FEBRUARY 4TH
With the construction of the kiosk outside the computer center now complete, the B of A Versateller will begin dispensing money on February 4th. The Haas School ATM is one of eleven machines recently installed in high-traffic campus locations. Various financial institutions, including two campus credit unions, Cal State 9 and the University and State Employees (USE), will operate the new ATMs. Cal is one of the last UC campuses to allow ATM machines on its premises.
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HAAS ENQUIRER: LUCINDA WATSON
Career Center counselor Lucinda Watson began her own career at Haas in 1990, teaching Managerial Communication (BA 296). While she taught this public speaking course, Watson observed that many students were excellent speakers but there were also quite a few students who had great difficulty with interpersonal communication. About a year later, she started seeing Haas students individually, coaching them on their one-on-one business communication and interviewing skills. Her coaching was well received, and Watson's appointment book immediately began to fill up months in advance.
To help accommodate the increasing demand for her services, Watson's position at the Haas School was recently expanded. She now sees upwards of 25 students per week in one-hour time blocks. Watson describes her multi-faceted role in these sessions: "I help students illustrate their strengths, tell a good story, answer questions without appearing defensive, and package themselves."
Not surprisingly, Watson enjoys MBA students. "They are open to new ideas and flexible in their thinking, and that makes them the perfect population to work with," she explained. Watson draws on a combination of education in communication and psychology to aid each individual student in understanding the impressions he or she creates, and to design appropriate communication styles. Watson says this process is always challenging and help keeps her life interesting.
Watson, who lives in Sausalito, recently completed her first book titled, "How They Achieved." In it, she tells the success stories of thirty business people, including Don Fisher, BS 50, and local chef Alice Waters. Watson conducted the interviews and wrote the book in her spare time last summer.
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UNDERGRAD GLOBAL MANAGEMENT CONCENTRATION IMPLEMENTED
The Haas School Undergraduate Program has received approval from the Academic Senate to implement the Global Management Concentration this semester. During the review process, Professor Thomas Shannon, chair of the Committee on International Education, stated that the concentration " is one of the most important positive developments in International Education on the Berkeley campus in a number of years."
The concentration goes into effect during this semester. Contact Robin Davidson in the Undergraduate Program Office if you are interested in receiving more detailed information about the Global Management Concentration.
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Oliver Williamson, Edgar F. Kaiser Professor of Business Administration and professor of economics, is one of five UC Berkeley professors to receive Fulbright Scholar grants for the 1998-99 academic year. The grants enable each professor to teach at a foreign university for part of the academic year. Williamson plans to teach "The Economics of Organization" later this spring at the University of Siena in Siena, Italy.
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WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM RECOGNIZES ALUM
Scott Galloway, MBA 92, has been named one of the one hundred Global Leaders for Tomorrow for 1999 by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Galloway is the chairman and CEO of the San Francisco marketing firm Prophet Brand Strategy, whose clients include Levi Strauss & Co., Wells-Fargo, William-Sonoma, MasterCard, The Discovery Channel, Audi, Adidas, and Whirlpool.
Galloway shares this year's honors with such business luminaries as Jeff Bezos, chairman and CEO of Amazon.com; Andreas Renschler, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz US; Ben J.M. Verwaayen, EVP and CEO of Lucent Technologies; and Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Novell.
Prophet, founded by Galloway in 1992 with Haas classmate Ian Chaplin, helps global 1000 firms maximize the asset value of their brands. The firm's areas of expertise are brand strategy and branded commerce. Prophet recently opened an office in New York and will open a third office in London later this year.
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HELP SPEED EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY
A letter from Maria Jaramillo, MBA 99, a native of Colombia:
I am sure by now you all know about the tragedy of yet another earthquake, this time in Colombia, specifically in Armenia, the center of the Coffee Region. For those of you who don't know, Armenia is my hometown, where I live most of my life and where most of my family and friends live too.
I am glad to know that my brothers are fine, but I am still trying to find out about many of my relatives and friends. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get in touch with them because the communication is impossible. The city is destroyed, many people have died, and there is neither water nor electricity services.
If you want to give us a hand, please make a donation of any amount. You can use your credit card going to the following web site: https://www.eureka.com.co/terremoto/datosform.html. Keep in mind that US $1 is worth about $1,600 Colombian pesos.
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HAPPENING THIS WEEK