Wake Forest Unveils Center for Retail Marketing

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., believes it can contribute more to the study of retail innovation. Here is a snippet from a release that came out this morning:

“Wake Forest University Schools of Business will announce the unveiling of its new Center for Value Delivery Innovation, a first-of-its-kind retail marketing collaboration, at the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Executive Conference in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Aug. 20. The Center will provide an ideal venue for faculty and Inmar’s experts to collaborate with our 1200-plus, world-leading retail and brand partners on breakthrough innovations in retail marketing, while helping to develop the next generation of retail industry leaders.

The Center has been developed to lead change in retail marketing and help the industry stay ahead of its consumers by offering a new model that combines retail marketing and data analytics through partner collaborations. The Center will create knowledge, develop innovation and train executive retail leaders. Its goal is to use collaborations with manufacturing, retailers and channel partners to lead change in the retail industry. Inmar, SymphonyIRI Group and John Whitaker, founder of Inmar, are founding sponsors of the Center.”

We’re curious if this is something that is already being done on some level and whether the faculty at Wake Forest will be able to significantly move the needle in researching this field. One thing that we think is shrewd – uniting the Center to the school’s annual Marketing Summit, a case competition that lures many of the brightest minds in business school to solve a problem for a recognizable corporation. That can only bring the school more exposure as it fine-tunes the mission of this new venture.

Know of anything similar? Post a comment and let us know.

Early Advice for New MBA Candidates

By PAUL DAVIS (Wake Forest University, MBA ’11)

I was at my weekly trivia night at a local bar when I was stopped by another young professional who is set to enter an evening MBA program that I just completed. Conversation initially focused on classes, professors and academic expectations, but he then asked a very simple question: On a scale of 1 to 10 … was it worth all the stress and upheaval to earn the MBA?

Admittedly, I was taken aback and gave a short answer, rating my experience a seven or eight. I gave some lip service to the fact that I was better positioned now from a career perspective, which made up for the turmoil and sacrifice of the past two years. But I really slightly him with my response.

In totality, one should split the scoring up. Five of the 10 points, I believe, are in the hands of the school. The professors they hire, the way the curriculum is set up, the activities that are available … all of those things really make up half of the experience and deliver half of the ultimate reward and accomplishment. The remaining five points are really up to the MBA candidate. You alone are responsible for choosing electives, joining clubs/organizations, reading the books and cases, etc. You can choose to fully immerse yourself in the experience, or take the easy way and do just enough to pass the classes and get the degree.

So, what I should have told him was that I rated the school at a four. There were some shortcomings, but in the end I felt as thought I had gleaned immeasurable knowledge from the program. I rate myself a four … knowing that there were opportunities missed, networking that was overlooked and books that were never fully read and absorbed. Knowing this now will help each of you as you prepare to get all you can from your program.

MBA Programs Paying More Attention to Brazil

You can add the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business to a growing list of MBA programs paying a lot of attention to Brazil. We found this interesting announcement on the school’s website:

“The University of Virginia Darden School of Business’ new Global MBA for Executives program is gearing up. The GEMBA program will launch at the Darden School in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 28, when students will meet their classmates for the first time and begin the leadership development process. The first of the program’s six international residencies will offer a 360-degree feedback leadership instrument, experiential team building exercises and case method classes that will lay the foundation for developing leaders who understand how the entire global economy operates and who can meet the challenge of leading global organizations.

In January, classes will move on to Brazil, the economic powerhouse of Latin America. Students will study in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro from Jan. 8 to Jan. 21, 2012.”

We are aware of several other universities that have developed ties to Brazil, which is a major emerging market for multinationals. Students from the Illinois MBA program will visit the country next month, and Florida Southern students have also studied there. Brazil was also among the various international trips that Wake Forest University’s Schools of Business offered for course credit in the spring.

Know of other MBA programs that have visited – or plan to visit – Brazil this school year? Let us know!

Wake Forest Student Sets Sights on Olympics

We found this compelling article on Molly Nunn, who is balancing a full-time job, business school and is trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. This proves that you can indeed find work-life balance during your MBA program. Here is a synopsis:

*****

By Kerry M. King (’85) Wake Forest Magazine

Molly Nunn (’06, MBA ’11) is running for the Olympics.

Molly Nunn is running a dual race these days – racing toward the finish of her MBA degree from Wake Forest later this month and training to qualify for the women’s marathon trials for the 2012 Olympics. An English major with a minor in journalism, she started her career in teaching before changing directions, and now she works full time in the investment group at Allegacy Federal Credit Union in Winston-Salem. She was on the track and cross-country teams as an undergraduate. Follow her Olympic journey on her blog, http://runnersapien.blogspot.com/

How do you balance a full-time job with studying and training?

Carefully. And with constant internal focus on the goals.

Trying to make an Olympic team is a pretty ambitious goal; what led you to aim for the Olympics?

I decided to shoot for the marathon after my coach told me that he believed in me and believed that I could achieve qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials; this was in December of 2006. The goal turned into a great adventure and journey. The second reason for the marathon is that I fully believe in dreams, setting long-term goals, making a plan, and then going after it. It’s amazing what you learn along the way, it’s all about the journey in getting there!

Read more about Molly’s Olympic quest and MBA journey here.

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Are you curious about going to business school? Or are you in an MBA program and wonder what events and case competitions are going on at other schools? Doing a research project on WalMart and want to find out if a past or current CEO is speaking? Look no further.

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