London Business School’s Global Leadership Summit took place on July 5^th with business and government leaders from Brazil, Saudi Arabia, China, India and Africa joining in on the globalization debate. This year’s theme was “New Frontiers: Expansion, Opportunity and Innovation”.

Representing the worlds of finance and banking, education, technology, telecommunications, professional services and charity, speakers at the event shared the stage to debate the extent of the gravitational shift towards emerging markets and the implications of such a shift for global business.

Other topics up for debate included how societal trends and a low carbon future will fundamentally re-shape the future of work and how Western companies can best exploit the opportunities available to them in the emerging markets.

Speaking of the impact of globalization on Saudi Arabia during a panel discussion on Understanding Emerging Markets, His Excellency Amr Abdullah Al-Dabbagh gave an example of how the Kingdom was looking to take advantage of the global slowdown by accelerating infrastructure development to take advantage of the depressed prices of building materials.

During a panel titled Inside Out, Savio Kwan, independent non-executive director of the Alibaba Group, commented: “Our dream is to help society. We look how to help. We want a world open, shared and responsible. We are pushing this idea through China and wherever we go. Instead of trying to buy companies, we are trying to revolutionize the way people do business.

“We are now helping our Indian colleagues. Hopefully we will be able to do this in Brazil and other places.”

For the first time, this year’s summit was streamed live via webcast around the world and the interactive experience allowed viewers to use Twitter to “tweet” in their comments and questions for the panel.

Sir Andrew Likierman, dean of London Business School, said “The Summit is London Business School’s flagship event and the calibre of today’s speakers is a testament to this.  We’ve brought together a number of key people who shape the world we live in because we believe that London Business School is a place to hear and meet people that matter.

“One of our values is an eclectic approach, which means in practice that we are not telling people what to think, but giving them an opportunity to draw their own conclusions from the argument – very much today’s approach.”

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Most applicants to the top business schools are qualified to attend, but acceptance rates hover around 10-15% at some elite programs. How can you ensure that your application rises to the top of this highly qualified pool?

Hosted in conjunction with Future Women Leaders, the MBA Application Workshop offered by Stacy Blackman Consulting will help you answer this question.  Some of the topics covered include:

• What the top schools are looking for
• Answers to practical questions such as who to select as a recommender, which schools to apply to and whether to plan a school visit
• Common application mistakes to avoid
• Dispelling business school application myths
• Real life applicant case studies
• Practical advice to help you get started

Come join Future Women Leaders and Anne Obsitnik of Stacy Blackman Consulting in San Francisco on July 22, 2010 for top-notch coaching and support as you delve into your applications. This workshop is for women thinking about applying to business schools and/or going through the application process.

Admission to the event is $15 if purchased in advance, or $20 at the door; click here to register. For more information, contact Linda Kazdova at mba@futurewomenleaders.net.

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The Wharton Interactive Media Initiative (WIMI) at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has joined forces in a research initiative with ESPN for ESPN XP and the Nielson Company to study consumer behavior at this year’s 2010 FIFA World Cup, now underway in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Expected to be the most-watched television event in history, each soccer match is projected to average 125 million viewers across the globe. ESPN XP will attempt to measure media usage and advertiser effects for the World Cup across all media platforms – TV, radio, Internet, mobile and print.

The  WIMI is a data-driven research endeavor focused on interactive media, its effects on global businesses, and implications for traditional business models. This partnership will build a state-of-the-art predictive model to understand and project “multichannel” consumption habits of its audience across digital properties.

Wharton professors are looking keenly at the World Cup for insight into the economic, social and behavioral impacts of this mega-sporting event, as well as the business implications of the tournament. It should be interesting to learn what their research shows when the event wraps up next month.
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If you are feeling stumped by your application essays and need some additional guidance, check out our NEW series of essay guides for MBA applications. Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Stanford and Wharton available now. They are seriously terrific and we are proud to say that almost every person who has ordered one has come back for more!

We are on Facebook – join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman.

I am on Twitter too…click to follow me on Twitter! www.twitter.com/stacyblackman

Entrepreneur and investment manager John A. “Mac” McQuown and his wife Leslie have made a $25 million gift to the University of Chicago to benefit the Booth School of Business, the school announced yesterday.

Their gift is in appreciation of two professors: Eugene Fama, the Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth, and a longtime business associate and friend of McQuown’s; and the late Merton Miller, a teacher and mentor to both McQuown and Fama. The gift will go toward a planned Fama–Miller Center within Chicago Booth, which the school says will support the school’s strong tradition of finance research.

“In vividly acknowledging the depth and importance of their relationship to Gene, Merton and the finance faculty at Chicago Booth, the McQuowns are truly endorsing the power of ideas at the University of Chicago,” said Chicago Booth dean Edward Snyder when announcing the news.

McQuown is co–founder of Diversified Credit Investments, a San Francisco–based investment firm. He previously led a team at Wells Fargo that, in 1971, created the first index fund, based on Fama’s efficient market hypothesis and McQuown’s belief in the power of quantitative analysis to measure risk and return.
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If you are feeling stumped by your application essays and need some additional guidance, check out our NEW series of essay guides for MBA applications. Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Stanford and Wharton available now. They are seriously terrific and we are proud to say that almost every person who has ordered one has come back for more!

We are on Facebook – join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman.

I am on Twitter too…click to follow me on Twitter! www.twitter.com/stacyblackman