Stacy Blackman’s Weekly Roundup of B-School Intelligence

To help marketers, the Healthcare Communication & Marketing Association (HCMA) and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Health Industry Management Program have united to develop a strategic marketing executive program. Mark Tran, HCMA’s Executive Education Committee chair, says “The HCMA and the Kellogg School of Business Management have designed this program to benefit marketing executives in the pharmaceutical, bio-pharma, diagnostics, and medical device industries.”

Columbia Business School’s Public Offering Post offers an interview with Keeth Smart ’10, who will be starting at CBS next week on the heels of his third Olympic appearance as the captain of the U.S. Fencing Team. Smart says teamwork, focus and time management are necessary skills in both athletics and business.

Hitting bookstores now is Philip Delves Broughton’s “Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School.” Intrigued by the opportunities open to someone with a golden MBA degree, journalist Broughton quits his post as Paris bureau chief for London’s Daily Telegraph to attend HBS.

Thunderbird School of Global Management has launched “Doing Business in India” — a comprehensive, online certificate program on the dynamics of Indian business. The new four-week program offers working professionals the tools and knowledge they need to work effectively within India’s business, political and cultural environment.

Boutique investment firms and middle-market banks, which typically handle transactions below $1 billion, are finding themselves in an enviable position this summer, BusinessWeek reports. As the big financial firms tighten the number of internships and job offers they are giving to MBA students, smaller firms that often get overlooked by MBAs during the job hunt are suddenly in demand.

Registration for Explore Wharton on September 25 & 26, 2008 is now open. “Explore Wharton: Diversity in Action” is an opportunity for candidates from diverse backgrounds to visit the Wharton campus, network with current students, attend classes, receive helpful information about the admissions process, and experience the uniquely collaborative Wharton environment. Visit http://clubs.wharton.upenn.edu/proday/index.html to register.

UCLA’s Anderson School of Management has released its online application and announced its application deadlines and admissions essays for the 2008-2009 season.

Round 1: October 9, 2008
Round 2: January 8, 2009
Round 3: April 2, 2009

For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

Stacy Blackman’s Weekly Roundup of B-School Intelligence

BusinessWeek reminds readers that self-assessment tests–if answered with complete candor–can really help MBA applicants target career direction and business school goals.

The Financial Times offers a profile of Kellogg professor Lloyd Shefsky, who developed and teaches the Successful Entrepreneurship course. The class is based on his experience of setting up a law firm and years of advising entrepreneurs and their companies at every stage of their development.

The Sloan School of Management at MIT will launch an MBA ethics program which shifts the focus away from the case study approach to teaching ethics to one that voices values, Financial Times reports. The program is based on Giving Voice to Values, developed by Mary Gentile, a former Harvard Business School academic.

On October 3rd and 4th, Tuck’s annual Women in Business conference brings together current Tuck students and partners, alumni, and prospective students to engage in discussion of issues and opportunities relevant to women in the business world. The deadline for conference applications is Friday, August 15, 2008.

This September, MBA students at Chicago GSB will have the option to enroll in the new course “Innovation in Energy Markets and Opportunities in Renewable Energy.” Highlights will include a look at the root drivers of change in the energy industry, the technologies that are emerging, and the factors that will determine their success.

The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College will cosponsor the 2008 Diana International Research Symposium on gender and entrepreneurship that will take place on November 4, 2008 in Belfast. The DIANA International Project, established in 2003, is committed to advancing knowledge about the status of women’s entrepreneurship around the world.

The Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management announced that six prominent business leaders from an array of industries have been named to its prestigious Board of Visitors, an advisory group established in 2006 to strengthen the school’s connection with and relevance to the national and international business communities.

For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

Stacy Blackman’s Weekly Roundup of B-School Intelligence

In one of QS Top MBA’s lead stories this week, Professor Stefan Szymanski, associate dean of MBA programs at Cass Business School, says MBAs really do boost your income. The proof is that banks are consistently willing to lend to MBAs because they know they’ll get their money back…In fact, Szymanski calls doing an MBA during a recession a very smart proposition since you’ll be back on the job market by the time employers are looking to hire again.

In the wake of the Scoretop.com cheating scandal, Peg Jöbst, senior vice-president of GMAC, recently responded to questions from the public and from BusinessWeek reporter Francesca Di Meglio during a live chat event.

UCLA Anderson School of Management has received a gift of $2 million from Jim Easton, Chairman and CEO of Jas. D. Easton, Inc., a privately owned manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of archery and other sports equipment.  The gift will be used to create the Jim Easton Global Connection Classroom, an advanced, technology-enabled learning environment.

According to new government regulations, the Financial Times reports, anyone studying on a degree program in Canada will be able to stay in the country for three years after graduation while looking for a job. This liberalization of the Canadian work visa rules is in stark contrast to policies in the US or UK, where it is becoming increasingly difficult for overseas students to get work visas.

Stacy Blackman’s Weekly Roundup of B-School Intelligence

B-school trends come and go, reports BusinessWeek’s Francesca Levy, but one that seems to have legs is the creation of specialized MBA programs, particularly by second-tier schools. But is a specialized program always a good choice for an MBA student? Not necessarily, Levy asserts.

The HBS Director’s Blog addresses the question this week of whether visiting the campus will help your chances of admission. The short answer: Whether you visit or not will have absolutely no impact on how your application is considered.

As many non-profit organizations strive to make their operations more professional, the Financial Times has found that a growing number of their employees are choosing to take an MBA. No longer are executives seeking qualifications that would help them in the non-profit sector heading solely to policy schools or  programs in education or non-profit management.

Richard Zannino, former CEO of Dow Jones & Company, has been appointed Columbia Business School’s newest executive in residence. In this role, Zannino will have the opportunity to give guest lectures, work with campus clubs and conduct brown-bag luncheons for students with common interests. More importantly, he will also be available for one-on-one counseling sessions to advise students on career planning and strategy, among other topics relating to professional development.