Capturing Value from Digital Transformation

Transcription

Merage
S T R AT E G I C I N N O VAT I O N AT W O R K
2013/2014
Published by UC Irvine
The Paul Merage School of Business
ISSUE NO 7
Capturing Value
from Digital
Transformation
IN THIS ISSUE:
How Big is Big Data?
Pg. 4
Cuba: One Country, Many Worlds
Pg. 27
Turner’s Take on the Numbers
Pg. 42
presents the 2013 -2014
Distinguished Speaker Series
Richard Afable, MD, MPH
Chris White
Bernie Clark
President &
Chief Executive Officer
Covenant Health Network
General Manager, Sports and
Entertainment Solutions
Vice President, Global IOT Solutions
Cisco
Executive Vice President,
Advisor Services
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.®
NOVEMBER
13
Dr. Richard Afable is a board-certified
internist and geriatrician. He has practiced
clinical medicine for more than 15 years in
private practice, and has taught medicine at
Nothrwestern University in Chicago and at
Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina. Covenant Health Network is
a Southern California integrated delivery
system created by the affiliation of St.
Joseph Health and Hoag Memorial Hospital
Presbyterian. Covenant is comprised of
seven hospitals, an expansive physician
network, and numerous ambulatory sites
throughout Orange County and the High
Desert.
FEBRUARY
Chris White, a 14 year veteran of Cisco,
joined the Consumer Business Group (CBG)
as Vice President of Global Consumer Sales
in August 2008. In this role, White is
responsible for driving the company’s
consumer sales strategy across all routes to
market and providing global leadership to
the consumer sales organization and
business units. Additionally, Chris is
responsible for growing market share and
top line revenue globally with a particular
focus on globalization. White also leads the
Cisco Consumer Route to Market Board and
is a key member of the Cisco Consumer
Council.
EVENT DETAILS:
November 13 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
February 13 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
April 30
6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Receptions to follow
13
APRIL
30
Bernard J. Clark has more than 25 years of
financial industry experience serving
individual and institutional investors. He is
head of Schwab Advisor Services, which
provides custodial, operational and trading
support for independent investment
advisory firms. In addition to custody
services, Schwab Advisor Services provides
practice management and consultative
support to help independent advisors start,
build and grow their firms. Clark also serves
on the board of the Foundation for Financial Planning.
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Visit merage.uci.edu/go/DSS for more information or to register.
Merage
2013-14
3
Dean’s Message: Maintaining
Our Vision
INNOVATION
25 Wealth Management Frontier
4
How Big is Big Data?
8
Life on the EDGE: Where
Disruption Meets Innovation
26 Third Year of Success for
Financial Literacy Residential
10 JOBS: Business is Missing
Link for Technology Executives
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
12 Center for Digital
Transformation is
Creating Synergy
15 Executive Education: Lifelong
Learning
Cover design by:
Fred Davis
24 Game On! Polaris Investment
Competition
4
27 Cuba: One Country, Many
Worlds
30 Long Institute Names New
Academic Director
STUDENTS AND PROGRAMS
32 MBA Consulting Program:
When Executives Team with
MBA Students Everyone
Benefits
Issue No. 7
44 Research Summaries
51 Faculty in the News
52 PhDs Expand the Reach of the
Merage School
COLLABORATION
54 Feel the Energy Building
56 Immigrant. Entrepreneur.
Philanthropist. A Spotlight on
Corporate Partner Phu Hoang
58 Thank You to our Advisors
and Donors
61 Dean Andy Policano
– A Celebration of
Accomplishments
8
42
16 2013 Health Care Forecast
Conference: Examining
Health Care Reform in the
New Paradigm
35 Negotiating Global Peace
62 Dean’s Leadership Circle
36 The Game of Business
ALUMNI NEWS
37 Taking the Creative Path
19 $70,000 Awarded in 2013
Business Plan Competition
38 EMBA Students Go Global
64 2013 Merageville Alumni
Reunion
20 Distinguished Speaker Series
39 Business Education Delivers
ROI
22 Got an idea? Get a mentor.
40 Launching New Masters
22 2012-2013 Executive Mentors
of the Year
41 Merage on the Move
23 “Sheds” are Big Business in
Global Real Estate
42 Turner’s Take on the Numbers
66 Alumni Businesses: From
Gears and Beers to Engineers
69 Class Notes
72 Merage School Fund
FACULTY INSIGHTS
1
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
Merage
MANAGING EDITOR
Jon Masciana
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Anne Warde
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in the OC
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DEAN’S MESSAGE
Maintaining Our Vision
to lead The Paul Merage
School of Business as the interim dean and build upon
our School’s distinguished legacy. My top priority this
year is to ensure that we continue to fulfill the fundamental research and teaching missions of the School,
and continue to ascend among the world’s top business
schools. We are dedicated to providing a caring learning environment in which our students receive rigorous,
research-informed, and relevant education, and where
they can further develop as leaders able to grow organizations in any economic climate. We are also committed
to generating and disseminating world-class business
research that has short- and long-term impact on both
academic and business communities.
As I embrace this new role, I would like to thank our
former dean, Andy Policano, for his immense contributions to the Merage School. We are pleased that he will
continue to serve the School as the Dean’s Leadership
Circle endowed professor and academic director of the
Center for Investment and Wealth Management. Over the
next year, our search for a permanent dean will continue.
In the meantime, I invite you to join us as we explore
“Capturing Value from Digital Transformation” in this
edition of Merage Magazine. Increasingly, over these past
I AM DELIGHTED AND HONORED
few years, digital transformation has driven a paradigm
shift that transcends industries and borders, and has
drastically affected traditional business practices, giving
rise to new opportunities and creating new challenges
along the way. The impact on the global economy is
substantial and is changing the landscape of business
as we know it.
Whether you are a student or a graduate, faculty member, advisory board member, or community supporter of
the Merage School, you have been affected in some way
by digital transformation. In the pages that follow, we
hope you will glean some insights and inspiration to help
you as you lead your organization into the future or take
your first steps toward that leadership role.
Throughout this publication you will hear from our
faculty, members of our community and prestigious
business leaders from organizations such as Experian,
Taco Bell, and MemorialCare Health System. Join us as
we examine how companies are taking advantage of new
developments like Big Data and what sorts of opportunities will open up in the years ahead. Discover how the
Merage School is helping students to develop strategic
frameworks to manage through constant change in the
external business environment.
We invite your comments and welcome your collaboration with us.
Enjoy,
Rajeev Tyagi, Interim Dean
3
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
INNOVATION
How
by Anne Warde
W
hen you consider that there
are more than a billion people
on Facebook today, which is more
people than were on planet Earth
200 years ago, you begin to get
a glimpse of the potential volume of data circulating around
the world. And, Facebook is only
one social media platform. There
are hundreds, if not thousands,
of platforms currently in existence. Now hold that thought
and add that nearly 7 terabytes
(1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
bytes) of new data is captured
daily, in real time, at a rate of
150,000 fields per second.
“Every moment that people
across the globe share, like, watch,
message, shop, tweet, upload or
download, blog or post, the pool
of data grows,” says Vidyanand
Choudhary, associate professor
BIG
of Information Systems at The
Paul Merage School of Business.
“And it’s not just data from social
media, it’s data generated from cell
phones, GPS, sensors, and other
devices. Technology is transforming companies and industries. The
businesses that can adapt quickly
and leverage insights from this
wealth of information will be the
ones standing at the apex of competitive advantage.”
Big Data and Analytics
The term Big Data was created
in an effort to label this avalanche
of information. It is defined as a
collection of disparate data sets so
large and complex that it is difficult
to manage using traditional database management tools or data
processing applications.
Choudhary adds, “What differ-
VC CHOUDHARY
Associate Professor, Information Systems
Vidyanand (“VC”) Choudhary is an authority on versioning, pricing, quality,
and competitive strategy for software
products. His research interests are in
the economics of information systems, and pricing and
product line design of information goods. He has examined pricing for Information Technology products, software, and services such as online caching and electronic
intermediation. His research has been published in such
journals as Management Science, Information Systems Research, and the Journal of Management Information Systems.
4
experience INNOVATION
is
entiates Big Data from traditional
data is the sheer volume of information, the velocity at which it is
created, and the variety of sources
from which it is drawn.”
Analytics, on the other hand,
refers to the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in
data. It is the tool many firms are
turning to, to try and sift through
the vast amounts of information
now available.
“Businesses are frantically attempting to apply Analytics to Big
Data with the hope that they can
better describe, predict, and improve business performance,” says
Choudhary.
The game has new rules.
While Big Data may seem to be
the door to endless opportunities,
the challenges with Big Data are
CHRIS CALLERO
President and Chief Operating Officer
Experian
Chris Callero was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of
Experian in April 2008. He previously
served as Chief Executive Officer of
Experian America, having joined the company in 2002.
Prior to joining Experian, Callero spent 27 years at Bank
of America, where his roles included Group Executive
Vice President in retail banking. He also served as Chief
Operating Officer at Wink Communications, a leading
interactive television company. Callero is a member of
the Chancellor’s Chief Executive Roundtable at UC Irvine,
the Dean’s Advisory Board at The Paul Merage School of
Business and the Leadership Council of the Bren School,
Information and Computer Sciences.
Big Data
almost as vast as the data itself. Preedominantly they include the actual
acapture of the information, organization, storage, sharing, and analysis.
But, using data to manage a business is not new, and companies have
been doing it for decades. What has
changed is the type of data being
created. “It has changed the game
of business from one of simply
descriptive statistics into one where
all of the available data is collected
and mined to unearth previously
unseen value – in real-time,” says
Choudhary. “Now we are predicting
outcomes based on disparate pieces
of information and prescribing opportunities. We’ve gone from studying results to analyzing real-time
activity and responding to customer
situations in hours rather than
days or months. It’s the real-time
nature of Big Data that is creating a
challenge and
monumental
cultural shift in
driving a
ment and decisionmanagepractices.
making
P f
Ch
dh
th d
Professor
Choudhary
gathered
a group of executives together to
examine their thoughts on Big Data
and Analytics. Among those who
participated were: Chris Callero,
president and chief operating officer for Experian; Lynn Hemans,
EMBA ’98, director of Industry
& Competitive Insights for Taco
Bell, and Scott Joslyn, senior vice
president and CIO at MemorialCare
Health System.
So how are companies harnessing the information? And
are they successful at deriving value from it?
According to Choudhary, “This is
really where the rubber meets the
LYNN HEMANS, EMBA ’98
Director, Industry & Competitive Insights
Taco Bell
Lynn Hemans is the director of Industry & Competitive Insights at Taco
Bell. In her role, Hemans manages all
aspects of sales analysis, test market
design, and strategic brand sales forecasting. Additionally, she is responsible for the design and implementation of Taco Bell’s social listening platform. Hemans has
been with Taco Bell for 21 years in various accounting,
strategic planning, market research, and sales insights
roles. Taco Bell is a $7 billion Quick Service Restaurant
company, employing more than 150,000 team members
in nearly 6,000 restaurants across the United States.
r
road
– turning Big Data insights
in valuable, actionable busiinto
n
ness
strategies and tactics. Most
c
companies
are finding the sweet
spot with Big Data is its ability to
identify customers with the most
potential value and the products
and services that appeal to them.”
Callero states, “We are one of
very few companies that have the
ability to effectively address Big
Data opportunities today. Our Data
Lab works with clients to better
understand their data, identify
opportunities for linking Experian
data, and define solutions that create real value. One of our products,
Extended View, was brought to
market with the goal of finding data
that could help predict credit risk
of consumers who have little or no
credit information on file.”
Continued
SCOTT JOSLYN
Senior Vice President and CIO
MemorialCare Health System
Scott Joslyn is the Senior Vice
President and CIO for MemorialCare,
a 4-hospital system in southern California with revenues of $1.6 billion,
1,300 inpatient beds, and approximately 9,000 employees. He and his staff of nearly 200 are responsible for
information technology (IT), networking, and telecommunications. Prior to his current role, Joslyn was an executive account manager for BRC, a healthcare IT outsourcing
firm. Before joining BRC, he was the Director of Information Services at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
where, prior to that, he practiced as a clinical pharmacist.
5
Merage |
2013 – 2014
INNOVATION
“Our understanding of ‘best
practices’ is sharpening,” adds
Joslyn. “That is, we are gaining
clarity around which care plans,
medications, and other interventions contribute to, or are somehow
associated with, higher quality
outcomes. We similarly have a
better understanding of utilization
and costs. For example, more medical tests aren’t necessarily better,
especially ones that expose the
patient to radiation, such as CAT
scans.”
Many companies have identified Big Data as an asset, but
the seemingly endless opportunities to utilize Big Data
create never-before-seen challenges. How are companies
addressing these challenges?
Hemans states, “The speed at
which things happen is probably
one of the biggest challenges.
Everything is occurring in real time.
If you delay your response, the
moment may have passed.” She
continues, “Working at the speed of
real-time is an evolution. We’ve had
to modify our processes to respond
quicker, because now we can see
opportunities and issues as they
arise.”
“The biggest challenge,” according to Callero, “is dealing with an
opportunity-rich environment. We
are investing in securing access
to new data assets, enhancing our
processes, upgrading our technology and developing talent. I would
say that our investments are paying
off, and we are extremely well-positioned.”
One of the key challenges is in
hiring talented people who can ask
the right questions from the data,
understand the technical analysis
and translate it into meaningful
business opportunities.
What have Big Data and Analytics enabled your organization to do that it wasn’t able
to do before?
One report, completed by Tata
Research, identified two marketing
areas that benefit most from Big
Data and Analytics: determining
campaign effectiveness and channel effectiveness. Their research
indicates sales executives, in
particular, use Big Data to identify
the most valuable customers for
an organization. They also use it to
uncover opportunities to cross-sell
products and services.
Hemans says, “Big Data has
enabled us to better understand
our market from the outside looking in and across many disciplines,
including public relations, customer
service, marketing, advertising,
research, product innovation and
sales. We’ve even changed the
actual physical environment within
our company and created a social
listening center. We call it the Fish
Bowl. The purpose of this listening center is to monitor online
6
discussions and make sense of it.
The insights we glean enable us to
do things we’ve not been able to
do before. We’ve gained a better
understanding of what’s being said
about Taco Bell, and we’re leveraging those insights to better engage
with our customers. Turning the
insight into action is driving our
marketing strategy today.”
Experian derives value for its
customers by providing analytic
services and partnering with them
to create useful insights. “On average, firms use less than 5% of the
data available to them. With the
accelerated growth of data coupled
with advanced analytical resources,
we are able to produce competitive
differentiation for our clients,” said
Callero.
In the case of healthcare, according to Joslyn, “we have a greater
understanding of the relationship
of inputs to outputs as it concerns
patients in aggregate. Second, we
have a better understanding of
the health status and needs of a
specific patient as we, over time,
assemble data from multiple patient encounters and from multiple
sources. All of this is done, of
course, securely and in fully compliance with HIPAA and other regulations to ensure patient privacy.”
Developments in Big Data
and Analytics are clearly ushering in changes, but how are
companies responding, and
what kinds of changes are being made to core operations?
“Being a long-standing and
successful member of the data
and technology community, we
have been in a constant state of
change,” says Callero. “Our people
expect to be challenged with innovative and interesting opportunities
which advance their skills and bring
more value to clients and consumers. I think one interesting point
is that the market is coming to us
IINNOVATION
NNOVATIO
ON
and is looking to leverage our core
competencies. Our team is ready,
willing and very able. The key for
Experian is continuing to invest in
our team.”
“What we find,” says Joslyn,
“is that our ongoing management
practices are simply better informed with better decisions being
made as a result. Further, we find
that we ask better, more penetrating questions than in times past.
And, we find that we tend to focus
more on the things that matter to
operations and results. Our staff
have a greater ability to probe data
with more powerful tools, and they
benefit from an understanding that
data can be linked in new ways to
provide insights into cause and effect across a broader aspect of the
business. That said,” Joslyn continued, “we are in the early days of
this, at least for us. It’s a frontier;
we are learning, and many of our
efforts are developmental.”
How will all of this change
the competitive landscape?
Joslyn predicts, “Eventually, it
will be table stakes, like everything
else. Today, those that have solid,
reliable transaction-based systems
that span the enterprise are better
positioned to establish an information management layer above them.
And, those organizations with
strong partnerships up and down
the value chain or, for that matter, even among competitors, are
better positioned to take insights,
process improvements and other
advantages to the market. Use and
management of data is and will
increasingly become an element
of competitive advantage. But,
the tools, knowledge and skills of
competitors will soon follow. Big
Data is exciting, and it’s allowing us
to provide better care every day.”
Hemans offers, “From a marketing perspective, it’s been an interesting journey. If you take a look
back to the 1800s, we used store
fronts to sell product. Then we used
print media, telephone, radio, then
television. Now with the internet
and social media we can connect
on a one-to-one and one-to-many
basis in very rapid succession. With
mobile now coming up, it’s really
transforming how marketers reach
consumers one-to-one, based on
where they are and what their wants
are. Brands which understand this
and harness the potential will have
the competitive advantage.”
On the flip side, consumers are
benefiting from new practices that
have emerged from companies using analytics. Professor Choudhary
is currently researching some of
these practices.
“Personalized pricing, where
firms are able to identify consumers and determine how much they
would be willing to pay for the
firms’ products, is one area we are
studying,” said Choudhary. “We
want to understand how, when
firms compete in the market, personalized pricing affects the quality
of the products offered in the marketplace. Such competition is likely
to lead to higher consumer welfare,
but the firms may not obtain higher
profits except in cases where one
firm has a better analytic capability
than the other.”
Choudhary is also studying a
firm’s ability to send targeted coupons to bidders in online auctions.
“Again, firms can analyze data to
identify different types of consumers and use that information to
target the bidders with coupons.
We find that in this context, such
capabilities lead to higher profit for
the seller,” Choudhary concludes.
So what does all this mean
for the future?
Moving forward, Big Data, Analytics and other developing technologies will change the competitive
landscape. It’s just a matter of
discovering how.
Data that can help business gain
an edge is gathered virtually everywhere today. As we figure out how
to manage it, the focus may shift to
how to apply these new technologies to areas like human resources
or logistics.
The data is out there, we just
need to make sense of it.
“Today we are only limited by
our analytical manpower and
constrained by the capabilities of
today’s technologies for managing Big Data in its many forms,”
Choudhary states. “But, these limitations will soon become obsolete,
and we will be able to accurately
predict many events and actions
before they occur.”
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INNOVATION
Life on the EDGE
Where Disruption Meets Innovation
by Anne Warde
life on
the EDGE is an exciting, challenging, and rewarding experience that will transform them
from ordinary to extraordinary next-generation business leaders. EDGE is an immersive,
fast-paced 10-week elective MBA-level course
that takes students on a journey to explore
new challenges and approaches for managing
and leveraging disruptive forces in the business environment.
EDGE is designed to encourage students
to take the “long view” – to understand how
catalysts of change – globalization, demographics, new technologies, macroeconomics
– shape the future of industries, and then to
develop strategies for a company to survive
and thrive in a rapidly evolving world. “The
objective is to clearly illustrate the importance of, and interplay between, these catalysts and the challenges and opportunities
they create,” said Vijay Gurbaxani, Taco Bell
endowed professor of Information Systems
and Computer Science who teaches the EDGE
course with entrepreneur and award winning
innovator Tim Stanley, senior vice president
of Strategy and Innovation Solutions for
Salesforce.com. “Disruptive forces will continue to erase borders and transform industries.
This class aims to prepare the next generation
of business leaders with the frameworks and
capabilities to proactively and continuously
adapt their organizations to be better suited
for success,” Gurbaxani added.
EDGE professors utilize digital course materials and online collaboration tools to teach
students to identify and address the risks
and opportunities posed by transformational
business and technology trends. Through a
unique academic and executive team teaching
approach, EDGE offers students an interactive learning environment augmented by
real-world examples and presentations from
FOR MERAGE SCHOOL MBA STUDENTS,
8
thought leaders, entrepreneurs, executives
and technology pioneers at key companies.
In the session on the business implications
of Big Data and Analytics, an executive from
Salesforce.com demonstrated a new “social
listening” technology called Radian 6. The
power of this technology was illustrated using
a real case study on Pandora®, an internet
radio service. Pandora utilized the cloudbased, real-time monitoring platform to spot
opportunities and risks surrounding a free vs.
paid pricing model change. Through experimentation and active listening, Pandora monitored the diverse on- and off-line channels of
customer feedback about the pricing change
– in real-time – around the world. When the
chatter turned negative, the Pandora management team was immediately able to identify
and mitigate any potential public backlash.
Pandora responded directly to influencers
who were negative and provided each of them
with support and a personal explanation
about why the service change was implemented. Their carefully planned approach successfully turned a potentially disastrous situation
into a positive and more profitable approach
that is now embraced by customers.
“Just two or three years ago, Pandora
might not have recognized the negative situation until well after the fact, when it was
too late to recover. Now, not only can they
see and test the impact of planned and even
unplanned events, they can quickly identify
key ‘hot spots’ and address them appropriately,” says Stanley. “Today, we are all working in a flat, global world, at massive scale,
more often than not, in real-time. Executives
must develop the new skills required to take
advantage of the power offered by these next
generation analytical tools. Those that do will
have a tremendous impact on future business
and how it is done.”
But EDGE isn’t just about lectures, demos and presentations, it’s
also about gaining valuable experience. During the course, students
break off into three or four person
‘Team EDGE’ strategic consulting
groups and execute a challenging project. In the first phase, the
teams analyze an industry of their
choice, its competitive structure,
the key players, the established business models, and
then they identify how incumbent companies and new
entrants might exploit disruptive forces of change to
launch innovative new business initiatives.
In the 2012-2013 course, first phase projects were delivered using the power of the internet, social, mobile and
other new online and multimedia approaches. The teams
conveyed key insights, disruptive risks and innovation opportunities they believed could be leveraged by insurgents
or incumbents. In phase two, each team was assigned to
a specific company and asked to develop a strategy and
actionable business plan which was then presented and
critiqued by a panel of expert judges, including venture
capitalists, business executives, and board members.
“One student team, focusing on the travel industry,
and Expedia as the focal company, recognized that it had
completely missed the boat on the impact and opportunity that social and mobile technologies and globalization could have on customer growth, their brands and
their core business model,” says Stanley. “The team
advocated a set of strategic approaches to respond to
new competitors and emerging markets. They also presented a more integrated approach to link their various
brands and assets around some core capabilities, and
recommended an aggressive move into mobile that they
felt would work best moving forward.”
Expedia, in fact, deployed several of the strategies the
team suggested, and has achieved new growth and some
successful competitive outcomes and metrics the team
had outlined. “The team really understood the key business models, demographic and technology trends. They
saw the catalysts as presenting both risks and opportunities and identified the right strategic priorities. They also
made a series of predictions that were pretty accurate.”
Adds Stanley: “We like that kind of example to hit home
for students – you can’t just focus on what you’ve been
good at in the past to the point where you miss important changes and seismic shifts in your business.”
In another example, students explored an opportunity with the potential to disrupt the auto insurance
industry. Inspired by the high cost of insurance and the
lack of available behavioral data on drivers to differentiate risk (and cost) between good and bad drivers, the
students developed a fictional company and innovative
new product called Tech-Tonic. This offering would utilize
emerging car and driver data integrated with GPS mobile
tracking technology, a cloud-based software platform
and mobile apps to obtain and allow the insurer and the
owner to obtain useful information on driving habits.
The business model had Tech-Tonic providing the driver
profile to insurance companies and getting bids from
them. In return for the profiles, Tech-Tonic was allotted
a percentage of the fee customers paid for insurance as
their payment.
“The team was definitely on the right track as we
observed a variety of new and established insurance
companies offering or experimenting with different products and approaches along this emerging trend. This is
the point of EDGE. In an ever more global, connected
and digitally-driven world, businesses are reimagining products, services, processes, markets, and their
business models, to function in a manner completely
different from the past,” said Gurbaxani. “We created
this capstone course to really bring the rapid change,
disruption and transformation going on all around us to
life in a way that is both compelling and actionable. This
is just one of the many examples of the kind of learning
and outcomes that result from our approach.”
“Companies in all kinds of industries are starting to
experience the disruptive component more frequently,”
says Stanley. “The trick is to recognize and act on the
catalysts for change and innovation in your industry – not
be a victim of it.”
“The fundamental learning we want to leave students
with is how to think differently,” Gurbaxani says. “The
world is changing at an accelerating rate. We don’t know
where we’ll be five or ten years from now, so business
executives must constantly challenge the status quo
and lead innovation in their companies. We’ve received
feedback from several Merage School alumni who said
that they used the framework we teach in this course
to develop successful entrepreneurial ventures. It’s
very gratifying to hear that feedback and know that our
course helped to make a difference,” he concluded.
For more information about the EDGE course, visit
edgesite.org.
9
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
INNOVATION
JOBS
Business is Missing Link
by Eric Butterman
that it’s a good time to be pursuing an
MBA. The Graduate Management Admission Council
(GMAC) 2013 Corporate Recruiters survey found that the
number of companies looking to hire recent MBAs is up
from 71 percent in 2012 to 75 percent this year. In addition, the number of expected hires per company is at
14.6, almost a 30 percent gain from the previous year.
While these statistics are promising, several recruiters
also note that many graduates who are technologically
savvy could use more business skills and vice versa. For
Merage School alumni, they’re finding a way to bring
both skills to the party, citing education and career strategy as top reasons why.
“For my graduate degree, I tried to take quite a few
different classes in different areas,” says Sagi Shimonovitz, MBA ’98, senior director of business intelligence
and application development at Time Warner Cable. “I
took classes in areas like marketing, finance and IT – the
most I could get as a generalist with a focus on technol-
IT’S SAFE TO SAY
Keep in Mind
GMAC’s 2012 Corporate Recruiters Survey found
several integrated reasoning skills that are important
to hiring companies. They’re located below, along with
the percentage of companies which rated them as very
important.
79%
71%
Make judgments based on information
from multiple sources
69%
66%
Combine and manipulate information
to solve complex problems
10
Organize information to see
relationships that solve multiple,
interrelated problems
Synthesize information presented in
graphics, text, and numbers
ogy. Some finance classes were particularly important
– the database marketing class is still relevant today and
is something I can use in my current job. It’s about getting to the point where you understand where business
operates in theory and then apply it in real practice.”
And he echoes the concern about balance in technology and business skills. “It’s not about knowing all
the latest and greatest for a product. It’s still about
implementation,” he says. “Technology is a tool to help
business succeed, to automate, to decrease head count.
Sometimes interesting products are being made but they
don’t serve a business purpose.”
But it may be just as important to learn to adjust,
Shimonovitz says. In fact, he had little choice. “I’ve been
with four companies just because of mergers,” he says.
“My job kept changing with each reorganization. What
I’ve done is look for where the opportunities are.”
Even though he’s been everything from a financial
analyst to a vice president of information technologies,
Shimonovitz says managing at a call center might have
been just as valuable and encourages people to expose
themselves to several different areas of their company.
“I was given the advice to do it, and I still benefit from
the experience,” he says. “I know what they go through
at the center – what customers wanted – and it drives my
thinking when it comes to business.”
Going forward, Shimonovitz believes it is important
to continue learning and developing. “I focus on making
the most out of available opportunities,” he says. “That
seems to take care of the future.”
Rick Warner, EMBA ’04, vice president at State Street
Corporation, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, has gone back
and forth between technology and business throughout
his career. Whether building financial software or his
present operational role, it still usually requires key
problem-solving skills. He also found a course he didn’t
want to take at the Merage School might have been
among the most beneficial in that regard. “I had a class
in cost accounting, and I didn’t enjoy it at the time,” he
says. “But I’ve been involved in building cost models for
rate cards for selling new business, and it’s amazing how
for Technology
Executives
much I drew from that course. It showed me how to dig
into a problem and identify fundamental cost drivers.”
Beyond that, the executive MBA program refreshed
and reminded him about being effective in compressed
timeframes. “An example, I was being asked to give a
presentation within three hours of reading the material,”
he says. “I’ve found it’s helpful to learn that you can’t
always be a perfectionist.”
Looking back at his career in technology and business, he sees there’s always been a shortage of people
willing to take risks, and it can be costly to only swim in
the shallow end. “We’re always looking for people who
have the ambition to be a pioneer,” he says. “You have
to take chances to be promoted – just not necessarily
crazy ones.” A key moment Warner remembers from his
own career was letting his voice be known on a change
to an application and then selling stakeholders on it. “If
you play it safe, you can end up just plodding along,” he
says. “That’s not the career you want.”
Andrea Paz, FEMBA ’07
For Argentina native Andrea Paz, FEMBA ’07, she
was looking for a social fit for her MBA as much as an
educational one. As data quality director at Experian,
her job is all about relationships and she needed to start
out feeling she had strong ones, along with leaders who
would encourage her with the language. “The school was
a game changer for me – I had only been in this country
a few years and what I was offered was a family environment,” she says. “The content of classes was strong
but it’s how they accepted me and also encouraged me
through my language issues that gave me confidence.”
Heading down the area of data quality analysis, she
quickly showed herself to be a leader, understanding
how to build a team and to never claim to know what
she didn’t. “I didn’t come into this job as an expert,”
she says. “We had people in those (technology) roles for
many years. I had to demonstrate I was valuable when it
came to learning about people, that I could put the right
team together. I needed to gain respect and credibility.”
Paz believes one’s interaction ability can be key to
move ahead in technology. If you’re going to question
people in this area, she says, you better know how to
communicate that you lack a personal agenda. “Oneon-one is a big strength of mine and can’t be stressed
enough,” she says. “Show you’re someone who can help
people overcome hurdles and advocate for them.”
As far as keeping up with, or moving ahead of, her
peers, Paz is always on the lookout for personal and
career development activities. “I am constantly taking
classes and workshops, and I have also developed a
strong business network,” she says. “At work, my strategy is to change roles every two to three years, and look
for things that will take me out of my comfort zone and
impose a challenge of some kind.”
But, closing the gap between skills needed and a new
position isn’t always easy. Paz recommends staying
on top of new trends and looking for opportunities to
gain new skills. “I have worked very hard to identify and
develop my transferrable skills, those that will always
be required and valued.” And, it may pay off for future
employees to follow her advice. If things go as Paz has
planned, she will be the one hiring and creating jobs of
the future.
11
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
Center for Digital
Transformation is
Creating Synergy
Led by Center Director Vijay Gurbaxani, Taco
Bell endowed professor of Information Systems,
the Idea Exchange Forums provide thought
leadership for professionals to advance their
knowledge and solve real business challenges
in a peer-to-peer format. There are two themes
for the forums: Big Data & Analytics and Digital
Healthcare. The event chairs for the two forums
are Suvesh Balasubramanian, MBA ’98, and Sam
King, HCEMBA ’00, respectively.
Big Data and Analytics
Aiming to generate and share knowledge that
helps businesses adapt to and leverage the
possibilities enabled by emerging technologies, the Center for Digital Transformation
(CDT) is creating synergies and making great
strides toward developing a dialog among
academics, business executives and policy
makers through its Idea Exchange Forums.
Participants at the first Idea Exchange in Digital Healthcare included (L-R)
Shankar Rao, senior vice president & general manager, for Optum HIE
OptumInsight; Lecturer Sam King, HCEMBA ’00, chair for Idea Exchanges;
Professor Vijay Gurbaxani, director of the Center for Digital Transformation,
and Nick van Terheyden, MD, chief Medical Information officer for Nuance
Communications
12
experience life BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
In March 2013, technology industry experts
came to share their experiences and knowledge
about big data and analytics. Among those
participating were George Mathew, president and
COO of Alteryx Inc.; Jill Dyche, vice president at
SAS and head of Best Practices, and Padhraic
Smyth, professor at UC Irvine’s Bren School of
Information and Computer Science and director
of the Center for Machine Learning. Center Director Gurbaxani moderated the discussion.
George Mathew kicked off the panel discussion,
arguing that: “Analytics has changed. We need to
understand how it has changed, where it is going,
how big data is impacting a change in analytics,
and what’s driving the change.”
Professor Smyth emphasized that big data
doesn’t just mean collecting data on more customers if that is the entity of interest; rather it
means collecting more data on each customer
and including unstructured data such as clickstream data, images or text.
Gurbaxani commented, “It’s about how we
move to this new world, one awash in information; success will come to those who understand
and implement its new set of operating rules.”
How should companies begin to exploit big data
and analytics?
Companies must think differently about
the data they are collecting and how they will
analyze, leverage and potentially share it. Big
data requires the integration of data sources, so
companies can further understand who their best
customers are and, better yet, who their next best
customer will be.
Gurbaxani pointed out that companies must
“move beyond the siloes which constrain their
data collection efforts and get to a point where
they are sharing data meaningfully within their
enterprises.”
Dyche emphasized that big data initiatives must begin
with a business challenge: “What is the need, pain point
or problem you want big data to solve? Then, explore
which strategic questions your company has that big
data can address, and which strategic objectives are
data-enabled.”
The panelists noted that industry after industry is
embracing the big data revolution. Mathew commented,
“Healthcare providers are sitting on an enormous
amount of data that they have not put to work. This is
one of the next big areas.” He added, “While retail and
telecommunications are refining innovations in big data
and analytics, an enormous evolution is underway with
industries like healthcare.”
Digital Healthcare
In April 2013, Dr. Robert M. Wah, chief medical officer at Computer Sciences Corporation, past chair of
the American Medical Association, and the first U.S.
deputy national coordinator for Health IT, discussed how
healthcare in America is changing and how the focus has
shifted to patient outcomes, population treatment and
cost reduction.
Wah predicted the next wave in healthcare IT is about
delivering quality care with better information. “The future will involve health information exchanges, electronic
health records and health analytics. We’ll move from
paper to digital,” said Wah. Wah’s vision for the future
involves an interconnected, private, secure health information exchange calling it a ‘grand healthcare platform’
containing information derived from multiple sources on
every patient.
A panel of healthcare thought leaders and industry
experts, moderated by Dave Nesvisky, executive director
of Healthcare for NetApp North America, continued the
discussion and included Dr. Wah along with Howard R.
Asher, PhD, CEO of ATM Health and Timothy Moore, senior vice president and chief information officer for Hoag
Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.
The role of big data
“Big data and analytics is about having a virtual pool
of information from multiple sources that physicians, patients, payers and researchers contribute to and extract
information from,” according to Wah.
“We need to understand the desired outcome from an
investment in big data,” added Moore. “Right now it is a
differentiator. Later you will have to be in it to compete.”
The obstacles to using big data
One of the main challenges the industry faces in getting patients to provide access to their medical information is that there is “variability in sophistication among
patients,” according to Wah. He explained that people
need to understand that it’s not a personal record, it’s
an information set, and access to the information is the
issue.
Asher commented about moving information to the
cloud. “We need to develop a Trusted Health Cloud that’s
purpose built, Good Information Practices (GIP) qualified
and audit ready. Not just any cloud is suitable for healthcare,” he added, “But it’s on its way.”
What must be done to move forward?
The panel identified steps the healthcare industry can
take to embrace the third wave.
I. Pay attention to security.
II. Learn from other industries with similar issues
for solutions and adapt them to the healthcare
industry.
III. Change the workflow process to take advantage
of the platform.
“HIE is dead, long live HIE!”
During the July 2013 Idea Exchange, keynote speaker
Sajid Ahmed, chief Information and Innovations officer
for Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, addressed issues on health information exchanges (HIE) in
the era of accountable care in a presentation titled, “HIE
is dead, long live HIE!”
Ashraf (Ash) W. Shehata, partner in the Global Healthcare Center of Excellence for KPMG, and Robert Hoyt,
Healthcare Solutions executive for IBM Software Group
in North America, participated with Ahmed on a panel
discussing the current status of health information
exchanges.
“HIE, in the classical sense, is on its way out,” said
Ahmed. He elaborated stating, “Sustainable funding
and a strong value proposition are needed for an HIE to
survive…There’s a negative connotation with HIEs. It’s
the acronym that prevents people from getting involved.”
Ahmed believes HIEs are important and indicated that if
they are to succeed, they will need to be called something else. “We’ve moved from HIEs into health information technology which includes Electronic Health Records
13
Merage |
2013 – 2014
(EHR), plus HIEs, plus telehealth. These
concepts are no longer separate.”
He went on to explain projects he’s worked
on, like eConsult, which are designed to make
data available between disparate organizations. “It’s a blurring of lines; it’s all about
care coordination,” said Ahmed adding, “But,
it’s not just about technology – hardware and software –
it’s about how, why and where in the workflow the data
will be used. Ultimately, it’s about retooling behaviors and
workflows, and trying to figure out sustainability.”
Hoyt added, “Care coordination is being replaced by
outcomes. We need to drive behavior changes and address social problems.”
What else is needed to achieve an integrated health care
system?
Shehata outlined three key elements of a successful
integrated healthcare system:
1. Implement a system that is meaningful.
2. Implement an in/out patient environment for multiple venues.
3. Create a system that can collaborate.
He added, “Data is going to be the key to collaboration.
The more we move away from standards and move toward open systems; that’s how we’re going to get there.”
“HIEs, or whatever we want to call them, have to deliver something someone is willing to pay for,” said Hoyt.
“If I aggregate data and provide analytical services, I
have something of value. This is the creative kind of
thinking HIEs need to be doing.”
What is the future landscape going to look like?
Hoyt predicts, “I think it’s going to be a utility in five
years, retailers are connecting supply chains, everything
will be connected. Once you have this up and running,
you can charge for moving information. All retailers have
extensive networks. They don’t have to reinvent, they
have to realize the value is there and figure out how to
make a profit from it.”
“You’re going to see signs of the states becoming a
player in this,” said Shehata. “They feel this is a good
way to get to know our citizens, our providers, bring our
highly regulated insurers together. Claims data is the
next big area of investment and coordination of services,
and, it’s mandated. Claims data plus clinical data could
be very big.”
Sahid believes it’s going to be a battleground for the
next 2 to 5 years, and that smaller, more nimble companies that can provide a solution for connecting providers
together may come out ahead.
“I think you have to take it to the cloud,” said Hoyt.
“Monolithic systems are too big and too cumbersome
to be reactive enough to change at the speed they need
to change. We’re in for a bumpy ride. We’re going to see
more change in the next 5 years than we have in the last
40,” he concluded.
“If you’re not digital, get there quickly,” advised Shehata. “Once you get digital, make sure you can look at
things at the patient level and provider level across the
board and create new partnerships to be successful.”
For more information about the Center and its programs, visit merage.uci.edu/go/CDT.
The 2014 Health Care Forecast Conference
February 20-21, 2014
The Health Care Forecast Conference provides a unique venue for dialogue among government,
business and academic leaders who share their perspectives on key economic and political issues
which impact the health care industry.
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/HCC
for details on the 2014 Health Care Forecast Conference and
to view past conference programs and videos.
Photo by Dennis Coats
EXECUTIVE
EDUCATION:
Lifelong Learning
by Connie Clark
EARLIER THIS SUMMER, more than 50 U.S. Marines
arrived at the Merage School for a one-of-a-kind training program. The two-day session, led by Professors
John Graham and William Hernandez Requejo, was
designed to provide personnel from the Pendletonbased 1st Civil Affairs Group (CAG) with skills needed
for nation-building in post-conflict areas.
Several months in development, the session is one
example of the innovative custom programs offered
by the Office of Executive Education. “When the
Marine commanders approached us, they noted that
CAG forces are already highly trained,” says Valerie Nellen, PhD, executive director of the Office of
Executive Education. “They recognized that a special
session was needed to support the troops who are
being deployed in emerging democracies. In particular, their ability to communicate and negotiate across
a variety of cultures and geographies is critical to the
success of their missions.”
With access to a world-class faculty at the Merage
School, Nellen was able to tap the expertise of Graham and Hernandez Requejo, who agreed to lead the
session pro-bono after the government sequester cut
funding for the Marine program. (See related story,
“Negotiating Global Peace,” on page 35.)
Thriving Subscriber Programs
In addition to custom programs for individual
organizations, Nellen and her team have developed
successful corporate subscriber certificate programs
that enhance the performance of high-potential leaders in specific industries.
For example, the Certificate in Leadership for Healthcare Transformation (CLHT) is a collaborative effort
between Merage School professors and health industry
executives. Among the notables who team-teach with
faculty members from the Merage School are Richard
Afable, president and CEO of Covenant Health Network; Terry Belmont, CEO of UC Irvine Medical Center;
and Dan Johnson, president of Experian Healthcare.
It’s an intensive undertaking, with five day-long ses-
sions over a five-month period, covering both theory
and practice. In addition to gaining enlightening new
perspectives on the changing healthcare landscape,
participants gain working skills in strategy, finance,
transformational leadership and more, all of which
can be applied immediately. The next session is
slated for early 2014.
The Certificate in Management for Technical Professionals (CMTP) is designed to broaden business
leadership skills for engineers and other technical
and scientific professionals. Like the CLHT program,
the CMTP sessions bring together exceptional faculty
from the Merage School with executive practitioners
from global enterprises. Five full days of instruction
are delivered over ten weeks, covering strategy, operations, processes, decision-making and more. Nellen
says the program has a significant impact. “Participants are subsequently identified as high-potential
leaders within their organizations and called on for
special projects to leverage their skills,” she says.
Education for Everyone
The CMTP and CLHT programs are developed in
collaboration with corporate subscribers to foster
leaders within their organizations, but non-employees
with relevant background in terms of level and function often attend as well. In addition, several public
programs are planned for the coming months, including CFA® (Chartered Financial Analyst) preparation
and general business classes featuring research and
thought-leadership from Merage School instructors.
Looking Ahead
Nellen regularly seeks feedback from corporate
subscribers, resulting in innovative programs that continue to be refined and expanded. With twenty years
of organizational development and business consulting experience, Nellen is enthusiastic about Executive
Education, promoting lifelong learning across many
types of careers, organizations, and industries.
Learn more at merage.uci.edu/go/ExecEd.
15
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
2013 HEALTH CARE FORECAST CONFERENCE
Examining Health
Reform in the
Conference
could not have been better, coming just a week before
the sequestration and in the year of health care reform
implementation. The February 2013 event focused on
“Health Politics and Policies in President Obama’s Second Term” and dialed in on specific issues like uncertainties in the economy, employer health benefits, insurance
exchanges, federal debt and how all of this is going to
affect the pending Medicare and Medicaid expansion.
James E. Glassman, PhD, senior economist and
managing director at JP Morgan Chase & Co., opened
the conference stating, “What we are experiencing now
is the face of globalization. It’s the smell of opportunity.
We’re back. Business is healthy. All around us something
big is going on.” However, on the issue of healthcare
he warned, “Federal spending for healthcare is the real
problem. We need to rethink our entitlement system;
that’s a huge step forward.”
Jon R. Gabel, MA, senior fellow of Health Policy and
Evaluation at the National Opinion Research Center,
TIMING FOR THE 2013 HEALTH CARE FORECAST
likened the current situation as “the calm before the
storm.” He stated, “In 2014, we begin implementing the
Affordable Care Act (ACA). Do you think the launching of
the ACA will be characterized as smooth or chaotic? In
every country in the world there is a concern about rising
healthcare costs, but people are opposed to the measures that might control healthcare costs.”
So, how much does health insurance really cost? According to Gabel, “More than $5,600 for single people
and $16,000 for family coverage per year.” He indicated
that most Americans are enrolled in high deductible
health plans. “But, higher deductibles are not proven to
make better consumers; rather, people simply use fewer
services.”
“What really needs to be done is we need to change
people’s behaviors,” said James R. Baumgardner,
PhD, deputy assistant director for Health Policy at the
Congressional Budget Office. He then added, however,
“healthy people retire later and live longer, healthier
lives. In the short run, maybe the first 15 years, there is
a reduction in healthcare spending. In the long run, not
only will people draw Social Security for a longer period
of time, but they will have more chronic illnesses, again
driving up costs.”
The Future of Medicare
Murray N. Ross, PhD, vice president and director of
Health Policy analysis and Research at Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, and former executive director for MedPAC, posed the question, “What would the
impact on the deficit be if Social Security and Medicare
were means tested and adjusted for life expectancy?” He
also suggested that raising entitlement ages and imposing income related premiums for Medicare might be on
the table in the future.
“Eventually we will return to a more serious discussion of structural Medicare reform involving streamlining Parts A and B,” said Joseph R. Antos, PhD, a Wilson
H. Taylor Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
16
Care
New Paradigm
by Anne Warde
“But, for the time being, we are going to have traditional
Medicare for at least the foreseeable future.”
“If anyone is serious about getting Medicare spending
under control, they need to restructure the program,”
countered Robert A. Berenson, MD, senior fellow from
the Urban Institute. There is no way to put it on a good
path toward sustainability without a major overhaul.”
In the short term, according to Berenson, there are
opportunities to reduce per capita spending including
evolving payment approaches and going after fraudulent
behavior. In the long term he identifies opportunities like
delivery system and payment reforms, and increased
opportunities for Medicare Advantage plans, to reduce
costs and add value.
to see what’s possible versus what was expected or
desired,” said Davila. He predicts the potential increase
in premiums could run as high as 25 to 60 percent. “It’s
the right thing to do. It’s necessary. But, it may be unaffordable.”
Dan Walters, a reporter for the Sacramento Bee,
commented, “The state could see itself in a huge bind
because decisions were made based on current tax levels
and the state’s fiscal stability is based on the economy
improving sufficiently by the time the temporary tax
increases expire in five or six years. It also assumes the
legislature will keep spending under control.” Walters
concluded, “It’s a work in progress, and will probably be
a work in progress a half century from now.”
Insurance Exchanges and Accountability in the
New Paradigm
The Role of Care Providers: Shortage or Over
Supply?
Marian Mulkey, MPH, MPP, director of Health Reform
and Public Programs for the California HealthCare
Foundation, speaking on behalf of the ACA in California,
commented, “The insurance exchange in California, now
known as Covered California, has already received establishment funding from the federal government. While
planning for outreach and marketing are underway, significant public and private efforts will still be needed for
implementation.” She continued, “California has moved
quickly and invested a lot in preparing for ACA implementation and is arguably ahead of most other states.
The law’s scope and complexity mean that its impact will
unfold over time.”
Mulkey predicts, “Consumers may be surprised by premium cost and out-of-pocket cost-sharing. Sustainability
will depend on care delivery and payment innovations.”
Juan C. Davila, executive vice president of Health Care
Quality & Affordability for Blue Shield of California, believes ACA is challenged with lowering health care costs
and guaranteeing insurance for all Americans, but there
is nothing in the Act that will lower costs.
“There is going to be sticker shock when folks start
Timothy Hoff, PhD, associate professor of Management, Healthcare Systems and Health Policy at the
D’Amore-McKim School of Business and School of
Urban Affairs and Public Policy at Northeastern University in Boston, commented how the lack of physician
access will spur innovation. He said, “We’re entering the
age of disruptive innovation, where contact points will be
everything. It’s an opportunity to lower costs.”
According to Hoff, nurse practitioners and physician
assistants (PA) may be part of the solution, “There is
jurisdictional competition in primary care as nurse practitioners and PAs push for more responsibility.”
Hoff expressed concern over the speed at which
healthcare providers are adopting technology stating,
“uptake is too slow for younger generations.” He predicted the creation of a tiered system, where people who
can afford more will pay more for access.
Speaking of access, Mark Leenay, senior vice president for OptumHealth, asked, “Is there really a physician
shortage?” He continued, “Our current system, with its
lack of transparency and misaligned incentives, has
actually created an oversupply of medical resources in
17
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
many instances. This excess medical capacity is correlated with over-utilization of services and is a major driver
of medical costs in the U.S.” He added, “The greater per
capita use of supply-sensitive care and more spending
have not resulted in lower mortality or improved quality
of life, nor have they led to improvement in the quality of
care. We have more supply than anyone else which creates more demand.”
Leenay predicts that increasing consumerism and
transparency will change the world. “Healthcare is
becoming more consumer-centric.” He stated we can
affect rates of utilization by reducing demand through
prevention, wellness and disease management. “In the
future, rather than doing health care risk assessments to
determine which conditions someone has, we will assess
their level of engagement with the healthcare system.
The strategies will be different.”
Michael H. Kanter, MD, medical director of Quality and
Clinical Analysis at Kaiser Permanente, believes there
is a need to decrease physician demand and increase
efficiency. “To decrease demand, we have to find a way
to reduce the number of patients needing to be seen for
chronic conditions,” said Kanter. “One possibility is to
do health screenings through the mail rather than in a
physician’s office...and increase patient education.” He
continued, “If patients have access to their own electronic medical record, they can see their results, they
can see what they need and when they need it. We can
provide links to show patients how to get their ‘care gap’
filled without seeing a doctor.”
tem,” said London.
Sam Nussbaum, MD, executive vice president for Wellpoint, Inc., stressed the value of new, innovative technologies, and the potential of artificial intelligence and Big
Data. He discussed the potential of cognitive systems,
like IBM’s Watson, which analyze vast amounts of data
to help physicians make decisions on patient care. “Watson is a computer consultant. It’s learning best practices
in healthcare, and by combining real world outcomes
and research, it may help drive greater evidence bases
for clinical decision and offers extraordinary predictive
capabilities.”
Reducing Cost Through System-wide
Coordination
Robert D. Lerman, MD, vice president and medical
director of Physician Integration at Dignity Health, felt
hospitals were well positioned to become more responsive to community needs. He emphasized accountability and a transition into accountable care focused on
managing populations. “We need to leverage technology
to drive change, forge new partnerships and transition to
an integrated delivery network.” The model of successful
reform, according to Lerman, involves delivering the right
care, at the right time, at the right cost.
Cloud Technology & Big Data’s Role
Walgreens, for one, is a company creating disruptive
innovation and becoming a health and wellness destination, according to Dr. Alan London, chief medical
officer for Take Care Health Systems Consumer Solutions. “Consider the possibilities of health and wellness
services delivered on a wide scale, 24 hours a day,” said
London. According to London’s statistics, two-thirds of
the population lives within 3 miles of a Walgreens store.
The stores employ 75,000 healthcare providers including pharmacists, physicians and nurse practitioners, and
Walgreens is already the largest provider of immunizations in the country.
“We’re currently working to have pharmacists and
nurse practitioners provide more testing, including basic
screening. Our strategy is to partner with physicians and
health systems to provide a seamless extension of the
physician practice,” said London.
London’s vision involves electronic medical records
and care coordination linking primary care providers,
health plans and patients.
“We’re trying to build a cloud technology so everything
we do can be shared with other players in healthcare sys18
Robert D. Lerman, MD, vice president and medical director of
Physician Integration at Dignity Health
Sheryl Skolnick, PhD, managing director and co-head
of Research for CRT Capital Group LLC, summed up the
conference with a couple of insightful comments. “We’re
on the cusp of tremendous change. The past is broken.
It will not work. We still need to know exactly who we are
going to be insuring.”
Skolnick concluded, “The administration needs the cooperation of managed care plans to make reform work.
We need to make the government a consistent business
partner. And remember, it is not, and never was, health
care reform. It’s insurance reform.”
View videos from the 2013 conference and register for
the 2014 conference at merage.uci.edu/go/HCC.
$70,000 Awarded in 2013 Business Plan Competition
at The Paul Merage School of Business is one of the nation’s premier business plan
competitions offering all UC Irvine students, staff and researchers the opportunity to form a team, create a business plan and
potentially fund their business idea all within seven months. In the 2013 competition, nineteen teams competed for more than
$70,000 in awards. Seven teams walked away as winners including (students from the Merage School are highlighted in bold):
THE BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION
NoreGen – UC Irvine School of Medicine Life Science Award ($30,000) and 3rd place in the Campus Wide Division ($3,500) for developing a device
to detect circulating tumor cells in blood. Pictured from left: Zuzzana Siwy, PhD, professor of Physics and Astronomy; Ashley Fong, graduate student, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry; Neychelle Fernandes, MBA ’14; team coach Alvin Viray, senior licensing officer UCI Office of Technology; Robert Joachim, graduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Laura Innes, graduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Jonathan Lin, MBA ’14,
MD/MBA candidate, and Matthew Schiel, graduate student, Biomedical Engineering.
Laser Associated Sciences (LAS) – 1st place in the
Campus Wide Division ($15,000) for utilizing laser technology in the development of medical diagnostic instrumentation. LAS is the culmination of years of research
and development experience within the core disciplines
of physics, optics, and biomedical engineering. Coach:
Dale Sadlik, COO, Konan Medical USA, Inc. Team members: Charlene Ong, FEMBA ’13, Tyler Rice, Sean White,
and Bruce Yang.
ValveStrong – 2nd place in the Campus Wide Division
($7,500), TechPortal Orange Residency Award ($6,000
in kind), and Best Concept Paper in the Campus Wide
Division ($500) for plans to commercialize hybrid heart
valve prostheses with self-regenerative capacity, lifelong durability, and enhanced biocompatibility. Coach:
Richard Henson, Board Member, Halo Healthcare. Team
members: S.Hamed Alavi, Peggy Bui, MBA ’14, MD/
MBA candidate and Seema Ehsan.
Nobles Medical Technology – 1st place and Best
Concept paper in the Undergraduate Division for plans to
develop an artificial pumping heart system for surgeons
to practice catheter surgeries. Coach: Demetri Andrikos,
Director, Engineering and Physical Sciences Licensing,
UC Irvine. Team members: Shoumyo Dewan, BA ’14,
Joseph Gomez, Jin Kim, Kenny La, Stephen Lee, Timothy
Macagba, Suraj Sampath, and Sohan Weeraratne.
MEGAL!NE – TechPortal Calit2 Residency Award
($2,750 in kind) for a technology-based language learning software. Coach: Tom Taulli, Author and Entrepre-
neur. Team members: Kimberly Co, MSEM ’13, Jinelle
D’souza, MSEM ’13, Matty Ochmanek, MBA ’14, Sreevatsa Sreeraman, Xinlu Tong, and Debbie Le Yu.
Bloom Diagnostics – UC Irvine Environment Institute
Award ($2,500) for an easy-to-use kit that provides real
time identification of any of twenty foam-causing species
of bacteria in an inexpensive and accurate way. Coach:
Earle Hager, Business Development Officer, Office of
Technology Alliances, UC Irvine. Team members: Amanda
Gage, MSEM ’13, Kevin Leong, MSEM ’13, Ali Mansouri,
Syed Naqvi, MSEM ’13, Betty Olson, and Johnway Yih,
MSEM ’13.
PixiePerfect – Fort Ashford Info Tech Innovation Award
($2,500) for developing an app that displays pictures the
same on any common mobile device, correcting for color
temperature, tint and saturation. Coach: Marc Fawaz,
Volunteer and Lecturer, UC Irvine. Team members: Donald S. Mowlds, Rajiv Raghavan, FEMBA ’14, and Garrett
A. Wirth.
UC Irvine’s School of Medicine was the 2013 Gold
sponsor. Silver sponsors included UC Irvine Environment
Institute, Beall Family Foundation, Bingham, Experian,
Stradling, and The Henry Samueli School of Engineering.
Program partners included EA, Fort Ashford, Legal Venture
Counsel, Inc., Neel Grover, Calit2 UC Irvine Techportal, UC
Irvine Medicine Techportal Orange, UC Irvine Claire Trevor
School of the Arts, UC Irvine Office of Technology Alliances, UC Irvine School of Physical Sciences, and UCIdeas.
For more information, visit merage.uci.edu/go/BPC.
19
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
Distinguished
Presentations Cover Everything From Listening
Audience All Ears
During Disney
Presentation
Opening with a Broadway-worthy stage show by
the News Boys from Disney California Adventure,
George Kalogridis, who
was president of the Disneyland Resort at the time
of the event (now president of the Walt Disney World
Resort), gave a Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS) presentation only Disney could do. And the audience was all
ears, literally.
With nearly 600 guests in attendance at the November
2012 event, Kalogridis shared five lessons his organization seeks to engender into each and every “cast member” that belongs to the Disney family.
Lesson 1 – Listen Intently
Lesson 2 – Respond Boldly
Lesson 3 – Engage Completely
Lesson 4 – Challenge Constantly
Lesson 5 – Evolve Relentlessly
Relentless evolution is something Disney has mastered
throughout generations and Disney California Adventure
is no exception. In 2012, new attendance records were
set at Disney California Adventure, and that’s good news
for everyone. The result of this success has been the creation of 25% more jobs, making Disneyland Resort the
largest employer in Orange County. According to Kalogridis, the Disneyland Resort generates approximately $4.7
billion dollars to the southern California economy every
year.
Insight from In-Flight
Entertainment Guru
Alan Pellegrini, president and
CEO of Thales USA, headlined
the second DSS presentation
of the 2012-2013 year, sharing
his insights on leadership and
global business success during
the event in January 2013.
Responsible for $1.5 billion in
revenue and 2,500 employees,
Pellegrini understands what drives success.
“Success is determined by flexibility, speed, innova-
Participants in Disneyland Resort DSS event took part in an “all ears” closing presentation.
20
Speaker Series
to Job Performance and Trust
tion, brand, culture and robustness. On a global basis,
businesses need to be local, not simply a U.S. company doing business overseas.” Pellegrini continued,
“The pace of change is extremely fast. Businesses are
constantly challenged with issues surrounding product,
people, interactions and barriers to entry, and technology
is making people and companies obsolete. The pace in
which we interact has become frantic. There is no day off
in the world of business today.”
During his presentation, Pellegrini shared several
words of encouragement and some motivation with the
audience:
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to follow you.
by Anne Warde
One: Leaders are almost always great simplifiers –
“Great leaders anticipate where they’re going and
where they will be in 5 to 10 years. Then they work
toward that goal,” explained Gray.
Two: Leaders create a culture of trust – “Building trust
is one of the key components for successful leadership,” commented Gray, “and one of the guiding
principles at UPS.”
Three: Leaders hire for the future – According to Gray,
good leaders don’t hire people based on their ability
to manage a current situation. They hire people for
their ability to manage what they think the future will
be. “If a manager cannot manage a larger or different business than what they’re managing today, the
business will never change or become large under
their leadership.”
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don’t stress.
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take charge.
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Pellegrini closed with a final piece of advice, “Be local
everywhere around the world.”
UPS President Myron Gray Delivers
Myron Gray, president
of U.S. Operations for
UPS, delivered an inspiring
presentation on leadership
wrapping up the 2012-2013
Distinguished Speaker Series
in May 2013.
Gray, who oversees the
delivery of more than 15
million packages a day and has more than 322,000 employees to manage, shared his unique insight into UPS’
corporate culture and a bit of advice with hundreds of
guests who participated in the event.
Hosted by the Merage School’s Center for Global
Leadership, the annual Distinguished Speaker Series
highlights topics such as leadership perspectives, ethical
frameworks, decision-making practices, and innovation
processes of top business leaders. Bank of America is
the Presenting Sponsor of the 2012-2013 series, with
McGladrey as a Platinum Sponsor, and Capital Group
Companies and The Allergan Foundation as Gold Sponsors. DSS events typically attract more than 300 corporate professionals, community leaders, MBA students,
faculty members and campus staff. For more information
or to register for upcoming events, visit merage.uci.edu/
go/DSS.
21
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
Got an idea?
Get a mentor.
One has a
mentor known for highly innovative ideas; the second has
a mentor with no reputation for innovation; the third has
no one advising him. Whose contributions are most likely
to be championed?
If you said the first one, you’re right. An ongoing
research study by Denis Trapido, assistant professor
of Organization and Management at The Paul Merage
School of Business, reveals that creative ideas gain better traction when they’re originated by someone with a
mentor known for similar bold thinking.
“Peer audiences are more willing to recognize original,
unusual technological ideas when the authors of these
ideas have been mentored by recognized original thinkers,” Trapido says. “When this is not the case, audiences
penalize originality and favor relatively non-original,
incremental contributions.”
Trapido’s work has profound implications for anyone
who wants to understand how to overcome resistance to
new ideas. “By seeking out successful mentors known for
radical innovation, or by building up a record of original
contributions, authors encourage gatekeepers to see
their original ideas as interesting and path-breaking,
rather than adventurous or bizarre.”
Trapido is also analyzing the mentor relationships
fostered by the Center for Global Leadership’s Executive
Mentoring Program.
SAY YOU HAVE THREE INNOVATIVE THINKERS.
by Connie
Clark
Collecting and analyzing data from student and mentor surveys, Trapido finds that, not surprisingly, students
rate the quality of mentoring relationships significantly
higher when mentors and students interact often. But he
also notes a rather surprising finding: that relationships
are rated higher when mentor and protégé are of the opposite gender.
“That finding is equally true for male and female
students,” he says. “Whether or not the mentor and the
student share professional interests does not affect the
quality of mentoring.”
Although the results are still preliminary, the student
surveys will help further refine the mentor-protégé
matching process at the Merage School and beyond.
Trapido’s interest in understanding mentor relationships comes in part from his field study of social networks in business. “I was trying to figure out why some
competitors maintain network ties while others become
alienated. Time and again, the executives mentioned
their mentoring relations when answering my questions
about competition. A CEO would say, for example, ‘We
are in cutthroat competition with company X but we
remain friends with the CEO of X because he and I were
both mentored by the same person.’ When your seventh
CEO respondent mentions mentoring again, you can’t
help wondering about the importance of mentoring in
business.”
2012-2013 Executive Mentors of the Year
Joey Benadretti, president of SYSPRO USA, along with Christen Chambers, MBA
’05, vice president of Digital Media for the Fox Networks Group, were honored
as the 2012-2013 Mentors of the Year by the Merage School’s Center for Global
Leadership. Benadretti and Chambers were selected from a group of more than
125 mentors who gave their time and business acumen to advise and encourage
2012-2013 Mentors of the Year Christen
more than 170 Merage School MBA students over the course of the 2012-2013
Chambers, MBA ’05 and Joey Benadretti
academic school year.
Benadretti stated, “I feel mentoring is always a ‘two-way street’ and a stage that facilitates the development of lasting
friendships. At the same time, mentoring helps each student clarify what is important, focus on clear communication
and articulation, encourage and establish a vision, structure ideas and develop attainable goals. Many of the mentees in
the Merage School Executive Mentoring Program are students who earn high grades and excel academically. It has been
both a rewarding and powerful experience to see my mentee deal with situations both in and outside the work place. In
fact, it has become an inspiring collaboration that has had a lasting impact on me as well.”
The Executive Mentoring Program is a cornerstone of the Center for Global Leadership’s goal of developing leaders.
More than 1,350 students have been matched with executive mentors representing nearly all industries and functions of
the business world. For more information, visit merage.uci.edu/go/CGL.
22
“Sheds” are Big Business
in Global Real Estate
ACCORDING TO REAL ESTATE executive Anthony Rozic, deputy CEO of Goodman Group, the largest listed industrial
property group on the Australian Securities Exchange,
the business of owning, developing and managing
“sheds” (Australian for “large warehouses”) is experiencing a resurgence around the world.
“Industrial real estate has long been the forgotten
market,” said Rozic at the 2013 annual Spring Board
Symposium for the Merage School’s Center for Real
Estate. “But that is changing,” he continued. “Over the
last decade, industrial properties have been marketed as
investment grade and we are working hard to satisfy the
customer and investor demand for our asset class.”
Goodman specializes in warehouses on a global scale,
usually in the 200,000 to 1 million square foot range.
Recently Goodman acquired California-based Birtcher
Development and Investments (Birtcher) to focus on the
development of, and investment in, prime quality logistics and industrial facilities in key locations across North
America. “I was looking to grow in the U.S. with a global
partner,” said Brandon “Brandy” Birtcher. “We needed a
visionary source of capital with a global customer base;
it was then that I met Greg Goodman.”
Birtcher was president and sole owner of Birtcher
Development & Investments, a leading firm founded by
his great-grandfather in 1939. Birtcher has overseen the
development of millions of square feet of industrial, office and specialty retail projects throughout the western
U.S., and he is a member of the advisory board for the
Center for Real Estate. Greg Goodman is founder of
Goodman Group and is responsible for overall operations
and the implementation of the company’s strategic plan
and is on the Board of all Goodman’s global fund and
investment committees.
The Goodman and Birtcher management teams hit
it off immediately and their entrepreneurial spirits and
desire to re-ignite the U.S. industrial business created a
synergy that is making its mark on the industry. The new
by Anne Warde
U.S. venture, Goodman Birtcher, is seeking to bolster
business in the industrial sector and penetrate the U.S.
market in a big way.
“The U.S. has traditionally been one of the hardest
markets to penetrate for offshore-based developers,” said
Birtcher. “However, with pent up demand running into the
billions of dollars, it’s a market worth exploring.”
“While the U.S. is big, it’s not the only market seeing
double digit growth,” commented Rozic. “There is measureable demand for warehouses in Japan and China,
and Goodman’s business is growing strongly in both of
these markets. In Japan, the first modern warehouse was
built in 2002. There’s a lot of demand there. In China,
urbanization has reached 50 percent and demand is
outstripping supply, but they still require infrastructure
development.”
While the new company is still just getting off the
ground, Goodman Birtcher is differentiating itself from
the competition. “A key differentiator for Goodman
Birtcher is its partnership with Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board (CPPIB), who has committed $890
million along with Goodman. A further strength is Goodman’s relationships with its global customer base, which
is opening doors to local opportunities,” said Birtcher.
“Capital and relationships are critical at this juncture
in the cycle, and we have focused our efforts on the
dramatic changes happening in the way e-commerce is
emerging and radical changes in the supply chain with
the widening of the Panama Canal and proliferation of
inter-modal yards across the continent. We are on the
cusp of a new chapter for the logistics sector of American real estate,” said Birtcher.
The Center for Real Estate is committed to advancing
education and seeks innovative solutions to all aspects of
real estate. The Center partners with prominent leaders
in the industry through conferences, MBA-level courses in
real estate, award receptions and mentorship opportunities. Learn more at merage.uci.edu/go/CRE.
23
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
by Anne Warde
Game On!
POLARIS INVESTMENT COMPETITION
SINCE ITS INCEPTION nine years ago, more than 100
scholarships have been awarded through the Polaris
Investment Competition held annually at the Merage
School. This year’s event is already underway with two
Fully Employed MBA (FEMBA) teams, a Full-Time MBA
(FTMBA) team and two teams of Executive MBAs (EMBA).
The Polaris Competition is a 52-week program where
MBA teams are allocated capital to invest in the stock
market. At the end of the competition, participants are
awarded scholarships depending on how they perform
and where they finish in the competitive rankings. To
receive an award, teams must perform better than the
Wilshire 5000 broad market index. The program is sponsored by Charles Martin and operated by his investment
management firm, Mont Pelerin Capital, LLC.
“My objective with the program is to provide second
year MBA students with an experience where they learn
how to evaluate businesses and work effectively on small
teams in a decision intensive environment,” said Martin.
As of September 30, 2013, the teams, Hail Mary and
Red Hot Ninjas, were bringing up both the head and the
tail of the race with Hail Mary in the lead. FEMBA team
1% Advantage was sandwiched in the middle by two
teams, Man O’ War and OFWG (see details in column on
right). The current competition will continue until June
of 2014 when the newest investment team champion will
be named.
Dean’s Advisory Board Member Charles Martin Honored with UCI Medal
C
hairman Emeritus of The
Paul Merage School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board,
Charles D. Martin, has been
selected to receive UC Irvine’s
most prestigious honor, the UCI
Medal, which confers lifelong
recognition on those who have made exceptional
contributions of time, service and support to the
university.
“UC Irvine is built on four pillars of excellence:
academic excellence, research excellence, leadership
excellence and character excellence,” said Chancellor
Michael Drake. “Our 2013 Medal honorees exemplify
these virtues. Their leadership and contributions are
truly inspiring, and our UCI Medalists help the university shape a bright future for our community, nation
and world.”
Martin is chairman and CEO of the investment
firm, Mont Pelerin Capital, LLC. During the 1980s
and ‘90s, he had a distinguished career as the
24
founder and manager of two investment firms: Enterprise Partners, which became one of the top venture
capital firms in America, and Westar Capital, a highly
successful private equity firm.
Martin has been a trustee of the UC Irvine Foundation for more than a decade and is on its investment
committee. He’s been on the investment committees
of many prominent universities, including 10 years
on the University of California Regents’ investment
advisory committee, which oversees the endowment
and pension plans for all UC campuses.
At UC Irvine, Martin helped institute and is chairman emeritus of the Merage School Dean’s Advisory
Board. He launched the School’s pioneering Polaris
Investment Competition and has awarded more than
100 scholarships and $615,000 to MBA students
through the program, now in its 10th year. He also
led the creation and organization of the UC Irvine
Chancellor’s Advisory Council.
For more information about the UCI Medal, visit
ucifuture.com/medal.
Wealth Management
Frontier
The 2013 winning Orange Crush EMBA team garnered a whopping
56.84% gain to take first place in the contest. Team members (from
left) included Amber Keener, Sharon Singleton, John Yoo, Wendie
LaRose, Kun Yang Kim, and Lucy Huang. Each Orange Crush team
member earned a scholarship award of $8,799.00 for their efforts.
Current Scoreboard
The 2013-2014 Polaris Competition began in June 2013,
and these scores are current as of September 30, 2013.
1
Gain 38.75%
Hail Mary – FTMBA
Travis Peterson, Peggy Bui, Mandy Tom,
Neychelle Fernandes, Julian Elsaesser
2
Gain 15.52%
Man O’ War – EMBA
Tim Nguyen, Scott Emigh, Arun Aggarwal,
Valerie Woods, Dale Werner, James Tinker
3
Gain 11.63%
1% Advantage – FEMBA
Gunawan Wiyono, Healther Lee, Qing (Shirley)
Ke, Amy Zhcao, Qi Xiao, Sydney Willinson
4
Gain 11.03%
OFWG – FEMBA
Travis Casillas, Philip Bernard, John Cheng,
David Chung, Rutherford Do, Ruben Duenas
5
Loss -0.28%
Red Hot Ninjas – EMBA
Jukka Steenari, Zaid Alsharif, Ryan Bullock,
Keri DeWitt, Raquel Martin-Leano, Daryl Miller
st
PLACE
nd
PLACE
rd
PLACE
th
PLACE
th
PLACE
To participate in the competition, MBA students form
teams of 5 to 6 members and submit proposals to run a
portfolio of publicly traded equities. The teams selected
are typically allocated $175,000 to $300,000 of capital
(real money) to invest. Scholarship awards of $8,000
per student (or more) can be earned based on a team’s
performance over the year-long competition. Since the
first competition in 2004-2005, approximately 1,000
students have participated in the competition at the
proposal stage and 290 students have participated on
funded teams. To date, a total of $615,000 has been
awarded in the form of scholarships. To learn more, visit
PolarisInvestmentCompetition.com.
Furthering its mission to provide the impetus for the
study, discussion, understanding and successful practice
of wealth management, the Center for Investment and
Wealth Management at the Merage School has introduced a new journal titled, Wealth Management Frontier.
The new bi-annual publication is edited by noted
economist, Dean’s Leadership Circle endowed professor and Academic Director for the Center for Investment
and Wealth Management, Andrew J. Policano, along
with the distinguished editorial review committee: David
Young, Anfield Capital Management (Chair); Jim Berens,
PAAMCO; Rick Keller, First Foundation Advisors; Brad
Morgan, Morgan Advisory Group; Adam Ratner, City
National Bank; Michael Ashley Schulman, Hollencrest
Capital Management; and Pat Soldano, GenSpring Family
Offices. The publication leverages thought leadership in
both the academic world and the business world to benefit students, business leaders and faculty researchers.
The latest edition of Wealth Management Frontier
focuses on the aging demographic and the implications
for the economy, and investment and wealth strategies
with articles including:
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Executives’ Compensation on Advertising and R&D
Spending Decisions and Stock Market Returns
(Journal of Marketing, Volume 76, September 2012,
33–48) by Imran S. Currim, chancellor’s professor
at UC Irvine and associate dean for Marketing and
Student Relations for the Executive MBA Programs
at the Merage School, and co-authors Jooseop Lim
and Joung W. Kim
'LUW(FRQRPLFV'HPRJUDSKLFV0DWWHU by Rob
Arnott, chairman and chief executive officer for
Research Affiliates
7KH5HDO0HVVDJHRI/LDELOLW\'ULYHQ,QYHVWLQJ by
Michael J. Bazdarich, product manager and economist for Western Asset Management Company
To read more, visit merage.uci.edu/go/journal. Learn
more about the Center for Investment and Wealth Management at merage.uci.edu/go/CIWM.
25
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
Third Year of Success for
Financial Literacy Residential
by Anne
Warde
Growth Continues as Program for Underprivileged Teens Completes its Third Season
WHAT STARTED AS a one-week pilot program on financial literacy two years ago has blossomed into a highly
sought after summer residential for underserved 8th and
9th grade students from the southern California area.
This year was no exception. Hosted by the Center for
Investment and Wealth Management (CIWM), the third
annual Financial Literacy Summer Residential Program
went off without a hitch.
“The primary purpose of our Financial Literacy program is to provide a foundation of financial knowledge,
while creating an enjoyable environment and summer
experience for our students,” said Lee Anne Maki, associate director for the CIWM at the Merage School. “Since
we launched this program in 2011, it has been a tremendous success, each year exceeding our expectations and
those of the truly fantastic kids who attend.”
One of the more intensive elements of the program
is the stock investment course. During this session,
students are asked to research public companies they
have a personal interest in and evaluate the stocks as
an investment. The students then get the opportunity to
present their stock of choice to other classmates.
“This is probably one of the most valuable learning experiences these kids take away from this program,” said
Maki. “They gain an understanding of financial markets
and what makes a good investment. They even get to
invest real dollars in the stock of their choice, which
gives them the opportunity to actually see the benefit of
proper investing.”
Over the course of the week-long program, students
had a full schedule of activities including the opportunity
to tour Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine and the trading
floor at PIMCO in Newport Beach. They also got a taste
for fashion and chose both professional and casual outfits during a special visit by the Orange County Women
Helping Women/Men 2 Work program, and a special
presentation titled, A Social Etiquette Dinner, sponsored
by Wal-mart, gave the young up-and-comers some useful
dining tips. Later in the week, students had an opportunity to open their own free savings accounts through
NestWise LLC, which also funded the accounts with $50
on behalf of the Center.
The 2013 summer residential closed with a touching
graduation ceremony which featured keynote speaker,
Cassandra Gray, EMBA ’10, president of Omnia Healthcare, and presentations by: Mark Moehlman, managing
director for Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors and founding
chair of the CIWM; Imran Currim, chancellor’s professor of marketing at the Merage School; Kara Duckworth
from Duckworth Mehner Private Wealth Advisors; and
representatives from Senator Mimi Walters’ office.
“This was an exciting time for everyone involved,” said
Maki. “It’s very satisfying to see these young women
engage with the business community and learn so much
that will help them in their future.”
“It is important to understand that women control 60
Thirty-one underserved 8th and 9th grade girls from the southern California area participated in the third annual 2013 Financial Literacy Summer
Residential Program at The Paul Merage School of Business.
26
percent of private, personal wealth in the U.S.,” Moehlman said. “It is alarming to me that to this day students
receive little to no formal training in money management. In fact, many of those participating in this camp
just may be the first in their families to go to college.
I have a special place in my heart for the plight of our
youth who do not know how to handle money and I’m
thrilled this program has become so successful.”
The 31 students who participated in the 2013 Financial
Literacy Summer Residential Program were selected from
approximately 100 candidates identified by partner organizations including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, El Viento,
El Sol, Kidworks, Operation Jump Start, Project Hope,
Wooden Floor, and the Santa Ana Unified School District.
Established by Moehlman, the Financial Literacy program was designed to instill a strong desire for understanding financial matters, encourage admission into
a four-year college or university, and inspire confidence
and success in all areas of life. Plans for next year are
already underway and there are plenty of opportunities
for the business community to get involved:
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Management
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program for perpetuity
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and financial markets
+RVWDFRUSRUDWHYLVLW
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chaperone
The 2013 Financial Literacy Summer Residential
Program was made possible by generous donations from
The Adams Financial Group of Wells Fargo Advisors,
Arbonne Foundation, Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors,
Beacon Point Advisors, Boeing, Center for Living Peace,
Charles Schwab Foundation, Duckworth Mehner Private
Wealth Advisors, Engaged Capital, Every Monday Matters, GenSpring Family Offices, JAK Promotions, Lettuce Cater 2U, Mark Moehlman, Marsha Swartz, Merit
Andrew, Merrill Lynch, Neiman Marcus, Nestwise LLC,
PIMCO Foundation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Richard
Hearn | LPL Financial, Schriber Family Foundation, Taco
Bell, TrueSpark, US Bank, Wal-mart, and Women Helping
Women/Men 2 Work.
To find out more about the program or how to become
a sponsor, contact Lee Anne Maki at [email protected] or
949.824.2675. You can also follow us on FaceBook at
CIWM Financial Literacy Summer Residential Program or
visit the website at merage.uci.edu/go/literacy.
Cuba:
One Country,
Many Worlds
by Connie Clark
In a historic first, students from UC
Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business
traveled to Cuba and received a true taste
of the island nation’s colors and contrasts.
WHEN BRIAN BAKER, FEMBA ’14, visited family friends in
Cuba this past spring, he got an unexpected surprise.
His hosts, an engineer and a physician whose adult
children live in the United States, welcomed him warmly
to their two-bedroom, 800 square foot apartment in a
run-down section of Central Havana. “They had no car,”
Baker says. “Their house was very bare, but they were
some of the nicest, happiest, and open individuals I have
ever met.”
Baker, vice president of Centerline Capital Group’s
Loan Production team in Irvine, says it’s an example
of the many incongruities that are part of life in Cuba,
where he and 28 other students from the Merage School
traveled in March 2013. Part of the School’s global curriculum, the international residential in the long-isolated
nation was the first of its kind by a California business
school.
Like the crumbling, color-saturated, colonial era palacios of old Havana that stand in stark contrast to the
country’s drab, communist era buildings, Cuba’s disparities must be seen in person to be fully appreciated.
“One can see the impact of a dual currency system,”
notes Wendie LaRose, EMBA ’13. “Cuba is a country with
no advertising for products or services as we know it;
there is no retail as we know it, and it is amazing to see.”
Students met physicians who are so underpaid they
27
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
The Cuban economy is not sustainable without
continuing subsidies from Venezuela and remittances from family members who live outside the
country. Still, the country is evolving. The Port of
Mariel Development Project envisions a worldclass port that can accept ships coming from the
upgraded Panama Canal. But the problem is that
there is no internal structure to support it.
–Kerry Vandell, Dean’s Professor of Finance and
Director, Center for Real Estate
often take jobs as cab drivers to make ends meet. They
had friendly, sometimes spirited exchanges with Cubans
who are often bemused by U.S. policies, but who welcome American tourists as family.
“Interacting with Cuban students, businesses and educators gave us a very in-depth understanding of how the
Cuban view differs from ours,” says Baker. “I think this
was very important to get a well-rounded understanding
of a very beautiful, yet complicated country.”
The weeklong residential was led by Kerry Vandell,
dean’s professor of Finance and director of the Center
for Real Estate, and John Graham, professor emeritus, Marketing and International Business. It was the
brainchild of Professor William Hernández Requejo,
Although you read a lot about the Cuban
economy and the structural flaws that lead
to a highly reliant public sector, speaking
with Cubans directly really brings to light how
wrong the incentive structure is in the current
Cuban economy with a dual monetary base.
Here you have highly esteemed professors
with PhDs who are making equivalent to $20
USD a month, while Cubans who work in the
private tourism sector typically earn at least
five times that. They ask, “What is the point in
going to school, taking your studies seriously
and challenging yourself if your best option…
is to work in an unskilled position?
–Neil Gershgorn, MBA ’13
28
who along with Graham and Vandell, spent three years
negotiating and working with the University of Havana to
arrange the educational exchange. “Cuba is undergoing
tremendous transformations,” says Hernández Requejo.
“We were lucky to get a chance to experience that personally, and the experience should serve as a catalyst for
more academic, sporting, and cultural exchanges, with
the Merage School leading the way.”
Student Perspectives
Each of the students brought different professional
and personal perspectives. “I spent over 17 years living in Florida and some of those years living in south
Florida,” says LaRose, a 20-year veteran in retail man-
agement who first heard about the residential during a
global negotiations class taught by Hernández Requejo
at the Merage School. “I was all in. I wanted to study and
experience, first-hand, the impact of the embargo on the
Cuban people; how the economic system was functioning, and the availability of goods and services in the
country. I wanted to know, ‘where is the country going?’”
Jeff Knoche, MBA ’14, has a background as a Peace
Corps volunteer in Albania. “I saw a lot of similarities,”
he says. “The communist era housing tenements and the
new buildings contrasting with the old, rundown structures showed us the wealth and development disparities
that exist there. We went to one of the newly licensed,
privately-owned restaurants, and I think the same lack of
business sense also existed in many ways in Albania.”
Vandell assigned pre- and post-trip essays, giving
students an opportunity to compare expectations with
reality. “The research that I had done prior to the trip
really painted a contrasting and unique situation,” says
Neil Gershgorn, MBA ’13. “The commonly cited development metrics, such as GDP per capita, indicate a highly
impoverished country. However, when looking at other
key metrics tied to the Human Development Index, such
as the unemployment rate, life expectancy and infant
mortality rates, education, and crime rates, Cuba resembles a first-world country.”
Much of the disparity is expected, given Cuba’s history. For example, Cuba’s official unemployment rate hovers around three percent. But effective unemployment,
the number of people employed by the state but who
don’t work, is much higher. “I saw a lot of people who
appeared to be out of work, or just standing around,”
says Knoche. “There appeared to be a large wealth gap.”
One solution is investment. “Cuba is starved for foreign investment,” Vandell says. “But at the same time it
exhibits hostility toward it.” Students agree. “If the housing situation and infrastructure could be repaired,” says
Baker, “you would really improve the quality of life of
the average Cuban, and in turn, make the country much
more attractive to all types of commercial real estate
investment.”
Students are quick to point out that despite the poverty and failing infrastructure, Cuba’s vibrant culture is
thriving in the form of art, music and nightlife. “I was
stunned by Havana’s beauty,” says Gershgorn.
But many say their most important takeaway affects
not just their business perspective, but their worldview.
“In a highly impoverished and restrictive country such
as Cuba, where one doesn’t even have the autonomy
to choose one’s own occupation, the ability to dream
or wish is inconceivable,” says Gershgorn. “Yet Cubans
still find a way to be positive. As an American and as
It was eye opening having conversations with
university students and young professionals,
and hearing their conceptions and misconceptions about capitalism. Something I won’t
forget was discussing Che [Guevara, Marxist
revolutionary and major figure of the Cuban
revolution] with a PhD student. I thought she
represented the coming generations of Cuba
very well. She was open to discussing socialism, capitalism, communism and democracy
and was very well educated in those areas.
She still leaned toward socialism, but saw
the struggles with motivation and worker efficiency. I still leaned toward capitalism, but
understood the shortcomings of “for-profit”
ideals and big business. My takeaway was our
willingness to discuss these things and see
that some aspects of both systems are beneficial to society.
–Jeff Knoche, MBA ’14
someone who has been given a lot of opportunities, I left
Cuba with a sense of appreciation and the desire to not
take for granted what we have.”
29
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
Long Institute
Names New
Academic
Director
PROFESSOR BENJAMIN VAN
has accepted the role of
academic director for the John
S. and Marilyn Long U.S.-China
Institute for Business and Law.
Professor van Rooij will concurrently serve as the John S. and
Marilyn Long endowed Chair of
U.S.-China Business and Law at
the School of Law.
Van Rooij is a renowned scholar of Chinese law and
regulation. As academic director for the Long Institute,
he will look to coordinate and execute a comparative
and interdisciplinary research program about law and
business in the U.S. and China. He seeks to develop two
or three core themes
where the Long
Institute can play a
leading role both in
research and knowledge dissemination.
The themes will be selected on the basis of
the existing expertise
at the Business and
Law Schools, as well
as more broadly on
the UC Irvine campus.
“Compliance management will be one of
these themes, as it allows for an ideal window to study
law and business and also draw out comparative lessons about China and the U.S. that are of interest both
to academia and practice. In the first years, the ongoing research will yield unique insights into what shapes
compliance in diverse Chinese sectors including food
and catering, agriculture, construction and legal service
provision,” says van Rooij.
ROOIJ
30
By involving faculty both from business and law, and
hopefully also from other disciplines, including political
science, sociology, criminology and history, van Rooij
hopes to build a unique approach of study at the
Long Institute.
Van Rooij will involve several of his most talented current PhD students in the Long Institute as associated
scholars to help build a critical mass focused on selected themes. The research and dissemination activities will
build an active and strong academic community at the
Long Institute that serves as a bridge function between
academia and practice, between law and business, and
between China and the U.S.
Prior to UC Irvine, van Rooij was a tenured chair in Chinese Law and Regulation at the University of Amsterdam
School of Law, where
he founded and directed the Netherlands
China Law Centre. Van
Rooij holds multiple
degrees in both law
(LLB and LLM) and
Chinese Language and
Cultures (BA and MA)
from Leiden University. He also obtained
a cum laude PhD from
Leiden in the field
of law and regulation. Van Rooij has
been a member of New York University School of Law’s
Global Faculty, visiting there in 2010. His work has been
published in leading journals including Regulation &
Governance, Law & Policy, the Columbia Journal of Asian
Law, the China Journal, the Journal of Environmental
Management, and Environment and Planning A.
For more information about the Long Institute, visit
ucilonginstitute.org.
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MBA
When Executives
The Paul Merage School
of Business at UC Irvine has been adding value to
a prestigious group of companies in Orange County
called Corporate Partners. Each year, members of this
elite network have the opportunity to participate in the
Merage School’s MBA Consulting Program. The program
consistently provides a competitive edge to participating
Corporate Partners, while MBA students come away with
critical business experience they can apply toward their
careers.
“Our collaboration with business leaders through the
consulting programs has set a standard of excellence
and helped place the Merage School programs among
the top 5 to 10 percent in the world,” stated Emile Pilafidis, director of the practicums and professor of Strategy
at the Merage School.
The MBA Consulting Program consists of two parts:
a fall Full-Time MBA and a winter Fully Employed MBA
FOR MORE THAN A DECADE,
practicum. The companies that participated during the
2012-2013 academic year were:
Experian, Hyundai, PAAMCO, Thales
USA, and Walmart.
)$//352*5$0
CT Realty Investors, Edwards
Lifesciences, Northrop Grumman, Shelly Automotive
Group, and Walmart.
:,17(5352*5$0
“Our program has grown every year. This prestigious
group of companies is testament to the excellent quality
of the program,” said Shaheen Husain, executive director of Corporate Relations and Business Development.
“Our Corporate Partners clearly value the insight they
gain from our students.”
“Experian is proud to be a Corporate Partner of The
Paul Merage School of Business. Our organization maintains a strong focus on education and has benefitted
greatly from our relationship with the School,” said Allen
FALL 2012 FULL-TIME MBA PROJECTS
Company
Sponsor(s)
MBA Project Work
Advisor
Experian
Allen Anderson,
President, Business
Information Services (BIS)
Conducted a market expansion analysis in support of strategic
planning activities of BIS that included prioritization of markets
as well as acquisition targets within those markets.
Professor
Vijay
Gurbaxani
Hyundai
Motor
America
(HMA)
Mark Dipko, Senior
Group Manager, Brand
and Product Strategy
Developed a brand strategy that clarifies Hyundai’s external-facing
brand persona, helping HMA establish a clear, consistent, relevant
and persuasive position for the brand as it presents itself to
consumers.
Professor
Mary Gilly
PAAMCO
Judith Posnikoff,
Managing Director
Developed an analysis of hedge fund performance conditioned on
size (e.g. performance persistence and predictability, among other
things), and outlined the related recommended business implications
and strategies.
Associate
Professor
Lu Zheng
Thales
Alan Pellegrino, CEO
Inflight Entertainment
and Connectivity
Developed a Social Media Strategy involving a detailed project plan
and a return on investment approach, and conducted related research
(industry, competitor and leading practices in B2B and B2C spaces).
Assistant
Professor
Yan Gong
Walmart
Kimberly Sentovich,
Senior Vice President
Pacific Division
Developed customer insight and sales analysis of current category
performance, with a recommendation for each store format on food
assortment strategy. The project involved Margin/Mix analysis to help
drive assortment decisions, as well as Market Share growth analysis.
Professor
Connie
Pechmann
32
experienc
c e STUDE
E NTS AND PROGRAM
MS
Consulting Program
Team With MBA Students Everyone Benefits
Anderson, president of Business Information Services as
Experian.
Experian has participated in the MBA Consulting Program multiple times with tremendous outcomes for both
the company and the Merage School students, some of
whom have come away gainfully employed with Experian.
“We have a significant number of Merage School MBA
graduates in leadership positions throughout our organization,” continued Anderson. “Every quarter, we have
had the privilege of working with students in the internship and consulting programs and have appreciated the
energy, focus and insight these students bring to each
project.”
“Our team of students learned a lot about how to
frame a project, conduct research and deliver actionable
recommendations in a convincing well-supported fashion,” said Sagnik Mukherjee MBA ’13. “We also learned
how to deal with interpersonal situations involving tasks,
leveraging each other’s strengths and managing the
expectations of the Experian team.”
Anderson commented, “We were impressed with the
quality of work the Merage School MBA team delivered.
They developed and provided unique, fresh and actionable perspectives.”
Walmart, a newcomer to Corporate Partners, also participated in the fall Full-Time MBA Consulting Program.
The project was sponsored by Kimberly Sentovich, EMBA
’04, senior vice president of Walmart’s Pacific Division.
“The presentation of materials the Full-Time MBA
team presented in the Fall 2012 practicum was excellent,” said Sentovich. “We gained valuable information
and forged relationships with these up and coming leaders that may benefit us even more in the future. We were
so pleased with the results from our fall project that we
agreed to sponsor a follow-up study for Winter 2013.”
And sponsor they did. After their experience with the fall
WINTER 2013 FULLY EMPLOYED MBA PROJECTS
Company
Sponsor(s)
MBA Project Work
Advisor
CT Realty
Investors
Jim Kelly, COO, and
Susan Barlow, Chief
Strategy Officer
Developed a business plan for a new privately held
industrial real estate operating company that CTRI
formed.
Kurt
Strasmann,
CBRE
Edwards
Lifesciences
Ramin Mousavi, Director
Market Intelligence,
and Morgan McKeown,
Director of Marketing
Conducted a market analysis of the competitive
landscape of the U.S. and European Medical Patient
Monitoring industries for the next 3 to 5 years.
Brent Marcus,
CPI Interactive
Northrop
Grumman
Dr. Brian Lottman, Market
Lead, and Dr. Ronald
Polidan, Director Science
and Weather Systems
Conducted a project on the NASA civil space business
market and industry, with emphasis on the earth
science small spacecraft prime projects over the next
decade.
Dr. Brian
Lottman,
Northrop
Grumman
Shelly
Automotive
Group
Michael Chadwick,
President
Conducted a market analysis on Gen Y client loyalty
strategy and related action plan, to foster, grow, and
motivate existing loyal clients, plus to attract new clients.
Tom Wagner,
Sr., Taco Bell
Walmart
Kimberly Sentovich,
Senior Vice President
Pacific Division
Second part of a project that a FTMBA team conducted
in Fall 2012. The team identified food assortment
strategies for Walmart for a selected store format.
Drew Aron,
Point B
Management
Consulting
33
Merage |
2013 – 2014
Looking for top
MBA talent?
Find out what Broadcom, Deloitte
Consulting, Experian, Johnson &
Johnson, Mattel, Pacific Life and The
Walt Disney Company already know.
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CONTACT us today at:
UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business
MBA Career Center
949.824.8464
[email protected]
merage.uci.edu/go/recruit
program, Walmart was one of five companies to participate in the FEMBA Winter 2013 program along with CT
Realty Investors, Edwards Lifesciences, Northrop Grumman, and Shelly Automotive Group.
Among the winter projects, the Edwards Lifesciences
project was unique in that it included a mix of MBAs and
Engineering Management students who are studying at
UC Irvine. This team conducted a Marketing and Sales
study of Edwards’ Critical Care Equipment business on
behalf of the company’s worldwide Critical Care business team.
“The Global Marketing team of Edwards Lifesciences’
Critical Care business wanted to better understand the
competitive landscape,” said Ramin Mousavi, manager
of Strategy at Edwards Lifesciences. “As a Corporate
Partner, we felt this was an ideal opportunity to engage
the students at the Merage School and also address
a business need. The work we received exceeded our
expectations. Our team of MBA students tackled the correct issues and went the extra step to deliver and convey
important information.”
The MBA Consulting Program is an elective for MBA
students and offers a valuable addition to student
resumes. Both the fall and winter programs are delivered in cooperation with the Merage School’s Corporate
Partners, a multidisciplinary group of individuals and
companies who are instrumental in supporting the
Merage School. Since its inception in 2002, the MBA
Consulting Program has completed 112 projects for 71
different organizations involving 637 students and more
than 56,000 student hours of work. Since the start of
the program, the Merage School has been fortunate to
have had many of the largest
and most innovative companies in southern California
participate. In turn, the
School’s MBA students have
been fortunate as well, with
several walking away with
job offers following the program.
“We’ve had a number
of MBA students come
away from the practicum
with job offers in hand,”
said Pilafidis. “The program certainly helps students in
their career positioning and builds experience that they
would not have received through traditional classroom
exercises. They learn practical research techniques and
go through the process of doing the analysis. They also
experience what it is like to deliver a senior-level presentation to company executives, and manage a client
relationship and inter-team dynamics.”
Photo by Dennis Coats
Negotiating Global Peace
by Connie Clark
IT’S ONE THING to lead a global negotiation from a
conference room or on a video chat. But try moving your
team to a deserted street corner in a war-torn country.
Put yourself face-to-face with a machete-wielding tribal
chieftain and hordes of hostile, AK-47-toting villagers.
Add to that an aggressive foreign press corps watching
your every move. Think you’d remember everything you
learned in business school?
Recently a detachment of U.S. Marines, the Camp
Pendleton-based First Civil Affairs Group (CAG), not only
recalled the cross-cultural approach to global negotiations they’d learned at The Paul Merage School of Business, they managed to integrate it into their own training
to successfully negotiate a peaceful solution to a no-win
situation.
Granted, it was a simulation. The exercise, created by
the Marine Corps, was designed to provide training for
the CAG, who are deployed in nation-building missions
around the world. Employing villagers from a country
in the Horn of Africa, it provided “atmospherics” to
mimic scenarios Marines can expect to encounter when
deployed in post-conflict areas as they help to establish
democracy.
This particular exercise was supposed to have a peaceful outcome, but it had been deliberately scripted as a
no-win for the Marine Captain and her team, says Professor William Hernández Requejo, who along with Professor
Emeritus John Graham and Valerie Nellen, executive director of Executive Education at the Merage School, had
been invited to witness the simulation at Marine Corps
Base Camp Pendleton recently.
“The entire exercise was meant to teach precisely what
the Captain managed to excel at, namely observe the
situation, determine what was going on, attempt to establish the decision-making network and bring her team
back safely,” Hernández Requejo says.
Weeks earlier, Graham and Hernández Requejo had led
a three-day session on global negotiations for the CAG at
the Merage School. We gave them alternatives to military
power,” says Hernández Requejo. “To use their vernacular, we showed them how negotiation can be one more
weapons system.”
The session was the brainchild of Captain Amaury
Gallais, the UC Berkeley trained Executive Officer of the
CAG, who recognized that the Marines required a unique
kind of training for nation-building missions. He approached the Office of Executive Education at the Merage
School seeking the global negotiation insight for which
the school is known.
Nellen and her team developed a customized program
specifically for the CAG, assembling a global negotiations
and communications “dream team” led by Professors
Graham and Hernández Requejo. Co-authors of Global
Negotiation: the New Rules, and dozens of other books
35
Merage |
2013 – 2014
William Hernández Requejo leading a global negotiating session for
the CAG.
and articles, Graham and Requejo emphasized the role
of culture as a problem-solving tool in global negotiations in the three-day session. CAG personnel, including
active duty and reserve officers, worked in small teams
to apply the executive negotiation training, and received
feedback from the faculty members and Marine Corps
officers before heading back to Pendleton for the live
simulation.
For all the planning that went into the customized
program, it almost didn’t happen when the government
sequester earlier this spring cut training funding for the
peace-building program.
Graham and Hernández Requejo stepped in, offering to lead the session pro-bono. “It’s always been our
hope that these sessions can help our armed forces view
negotiation as a dispute resolution mechanism,” says
Hernández Requejo.
Graham, who serves on the board of UC Irvine’s Center
for Citizen Peacebuilding, is equally committed to teaching Marines creative negotiations skills. “Commerce,” he
says simply, “creates peace.”
The Game of Business
by Paul Sterman
is making a comeback at UC Irvine’s Paul
Merage School of Business. Kirsten Daniel, a lecturer in
Economics, taught “Applied Game Theory for Managers”
in the 2013 winter quarter – the first time a game theory
class had been taught at the Merage School since spring
of 2007. And it’s not going anywhere anytime soon:
Daniel is teaching the course again in the 2014 spring
quarter.
“I thought the class was awesome,” says Corey
Katouli, who graduated from the FEMBA program in
2012 and audited the game theory class the following
year. “Doctor Daniel did an amazing job. We did a lot of
exercises that were really interesting.”
Game theory is a study of strategic decision-making
primarily used in economics, political science and
psychology. In Daniel’s class, students used the theory
to analyze and predict strategic decisions managers and
organizations make in various business settings. “Sharpening the ability to think strategically provides a way for
corporate leaders to consistently make better choices,”
she says.
“Game theory is applicable to many areas of business
and economics, from corporate strategy to international
macroeconomics,” Daniel adds.
“The class challenges you and forces you to really
think,” says Katouli, who points out that many of the
ideas in game theory are unconventional, spurring students to go beyond their mental comfort zone.
GAME THEORY
36
experience STUDENTS AND PROGRAMS
The
Merage
School
ays
alum says
he has
since
applied
s of game theory to his own
aspects
ss actions. Katouli is CEO and co-founder of
business
Demonstranda, an online platform designed to help students improve their math and science skills. (Read more
about Demonstranda in the Alumni Business section on
page 67.)
Katouli played a key role in the comeback of the game
theory class at the Merage School. In the 2010 spring
quarter, he was a student in Daniel’s “Microeconomics
for Management” class, and she ended the course by
providing students with a sneak peek at what game theory is all about. The discussion whetted Katouli’s appetite
for the subject, and he organized a petition to get a class
on game theory back in the curriculum. Katouli gathered
the signatures of about 60 students and presented the
petition to Mary Clark, assistant dean of the FEMBA
program. Subsequently, Daniel’s class came to fruition.
Katouli is gratified that it did, and he says the study of
game theory will benefit many Merage School students.
“It’s a very rich, rich subject.”
h
t
a
P
e
v
i
t
a
e
r
C
e
h
t
n
Taki g
by Paul Sterman
A PLASTIC-COATED
to hold
your cellphone. An
audio recording for
your car that gives
you mental and
physical exercises
to do while in the
vehicle. A recycling
project that turns
the bins into
basketball hoops.
These are among the useful products developed by UC
Irvine undergraduate business administration students
in a class called “Creativity and Innovation.” Lisa Barron, lecturer in Organization and Management, first
taught the course for the Merage School MBA program
three years ago; she taught it to undergraduates for the
first time in the 2012–2013 winter quarter. A class in
creative thinking is an unusual entry in the undergraduate curriculum, where general education classes and
other courses tend to stress logical, linear thinking – an
approach suited to finding singular correct answers to
problems.
That type of approach is important in the world, says
Barron, but so is non-linear thinking. The process for
producing valuable work doesn’t always go in a straight
line – it often takes you in a different direction before
you arrive at success. “Divergent thinking produces
many possible answers,” she notes. “One idea leads to
another, and to another. You’re not honing down on one
thing – you’re actually expanding out.”
For many students, the impact of learning to think in
a completely different way is dramatic. “I’ve actually had
students quit their jobs because of the class,” says Barron. “They realized they were in the wrong job.”
Tom Vampola, BA ’13, took “Creativity and Innovation”
during his senior year. “It was completely different than
any other class that I took at UC Irvine,” he says. “That
was one reason I really enjoyed the class, and I learned a
lot.”
To build up their creative-thinking muscles, students
in Barron’s class do exercises in class and for homework
that focus on developing different ways of thinking.
WRISTBAND
Exercises include: visualizing scenarios, absorbing the
environment, getting into “flow”, practicing divergent
and convergent thinking and learning how to reframe
problems and critically evaluate solutions. Through drawing and meditating, students also learn how to work with
a different part of their mind. Throughout the quarter,
the students work individually or in groups on a creative
project, in which they have to come up with a problem
and a useful solution to that problem.
Employing the creative-thinking approach, Vampola’s
group bandied about all sorts of ideas and changed
focus several times. The key was to keep their minds
“open to all possibilities,” he says. In the end, the group
developed a wristband that holds a cellphone, making
it easier for a person to contain or use the phone while
working out at the gym.
Vampola, who works in sales at a San Mateo tech
company, says learning to think in a more open-minded,
creative manner helped him during the job-search process, especially in responding to interview questions.
Neena Dass, MBA ’13, is another big fan of the Creativity class. She first took it as an MBA student, and
enjoyed it so much that she served as Barron’s TA in the
undergraduate class. She says she was impressed with
the projects the students produced. Not that innovation
comes easy. Dass notes that many students felt out of
their comfort zone at the beginning of the course.
“I think initially, the students were wondering, ‘What did
I sign up for?’ ...but once they got to showcase their final
projects, they felt like they got a lot of value out of the
class. They realized the impact the class has on their everyday lives in addition to their professional careers.”
37
Merage |
2013 – 2014
EMBA
Students
by Paul Sterman
Go
globally in today’s business
world, they face a daunting array of challenges. Statistics show that a small percentage of such companies
sustain profitable growth. Few know more about this
subject than Ed Fuller, adjunct professor of Globalization
and Andy Policano, Dean’s Leadership Circle endowed
professor and academic director of the Center for Investment and Wealth Management, who teach a course that
explores how to achieve business success in the global
arena.
“The topic is particularly relevant for executives in this
day and age,” says Fuller.
“You might be working for a company bought by an international operator or selling a new product in a global
environment or expanding your company globally – whatever the situation is, the chances of you sitting in your
little box without a global business need are remote,” he
says.
The course is called “Sustaining Growth in a Global
Enterprise: The CEO’s Perspective.” Fuller and Policano
taught it for the first time in the 2013 spring quarter, for
students in the Executive MBA (EMBA) program. Fuller
served as Marriott International’s president and managing director of International Lodging for nearly 22 years,
where he oversaw the formation and operation of 555
hotels in 72 countries. Policano, who in June stepped
down as dean of the Merage School, has done extensive
analysis of global-economy dynamics.
The class featured an illustrious list of guest speakers
that included such heavyweight business leaders as Paul
Merage, chairman of MIG/Suncore Products and namesake of the Merage School; Peter Ueberroth, a longtime
member of Coca-Cola’s Board of Directors, who headed
up the organizing committee for the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympics; Nam Woo, the retired president and CEO of
LG Electronics Asia; and Don Beall, retired chairman and
CEO of Rockwell International.
“The level of executives that came to the classroom
AS COMPANIES EXPAND
38
Glo
bal
was
amazing,” says
Barbara Gregson, EMBA
’13, a student in the class. “We learned that companies
face many more issues than just maintaining revenue
growth.”
For the class final, students worked on group projects
requiring them to present a business expansion plan in
a global location where future growth is predicted. EMBA
student Terry McGee says his group presented a plan to
expand Green Mountain Roasters coffee production and
distribution in Rwanda.
“Topics of health, security, monetary stability and
more had to be reviewed, highlighting how difficult and
rewarding it is to grow a global business,” he says.
McGee, the EMBA 2013 class representative, adds
of the Sustaining Growth course: “The most valuable
takeaway for me as an executive was hearing Ed Fuller’s
practical experiences, and what was successful and not,”
he says. “Even at the executive level, the opportunity to
interact with top executives is rare, and in such a relaxed
atmosphere even more so.”
For his part, Fuller – currently the president and CEO
of the Orange County Visitor Association – says it was
highly rewarding to work with EMBA students. “You’re
interacting with some really smart individuals who have
tremendous skills of their own.”
He says Policano also found teaching the class to be
fun and gratifying. In fact, both executives have agreed
to teach it again, offering the course in the 2014 spring
quarter.
Business Education
Delivers ROI
by Paul Sterman
GRADUATES OF THE FULLY EMPLOYED MBA (FEMBA) program at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business give
the program very high marks, according to results from
a recent survey, especially when it comes to their return
on investment (ROI).
According to the results of a recent ROI Survey, conducted by the FEMBA admissions office:
0RUHWKDQSHUFHQWRI WKHUHVSRQGHQWVVDLGWKH
value of their Merage School MBA degree met or
exceeded their expectations.
$QRYHUZKHOPLQJPDMRULW\VDLGWKH)(0%$SURJUDP
positioned them well for their desired career trajectory.
1HDUO\SHUFHQWVDLGWKH\ZRXOGUHFRPPHQGWKH
FEMBA program to someone pursuing an MBA.
“It’s very rewarding to see such positive feedback
about what we are doing here,” says Mary Clark, assistant dean of the FEMBA program. “The survey results
show that our graduates are very happy with their experience at the Merage School, and that the FEMBA program
helped them achieve their career goals.”
Alumni also said their experience in the FEMBA program boosted their earning power. On average, students
saw an increase in salary of 27 percent from the time
they entered the program, to the time they graduated.
The class of 2013 saw an average increase in salary
of 28 percent. (The survey results are heavily weighted
toward recent alums – more than 40 percent of the
respondents graduated between 2005 and 2009.)
In addition, they gained new skills. Alumni said the
top five skills they acquired during the FEMBA program
were, in order, strategic thinking, quantitative/analytical
decision-making, leadership, general business acumen,
and teamwork. Also of note: Career functions prior to entering the FEMBA program focused primarily on Finance,
Engineering and Technology with less than 30 percent of
students functioning in a management capacity. Following the FEMBA program, nearly 85 percent of students
were working in a management function.
Some students found their niche in new industries.
While the Financial, Defense and Engineering industries
were the top industries where students were employed
when they entered the FEMBA program, Finance, Healthcare and Technology took the lead when students exited.
The survey was completed anonymously by nearly
500 respondents from the 1994 class through the 2012
class, many of whom had positive things to say. Here is
just a sample:
´7KHLQWHUQDWLRQDOUHVLGHQWLDOZDVDWUHPHQGRXVH[perience. Although I am in a firm with a local focus
(San Gabriel Valley), we partner with vendors who
have global supply chains and support.”
´(YHU\GD\,DPIDFHGZLWKDZRUNWDVNLQZKLFK,
can utilize the skills learned from my MBA. While
it is pricey, it has ultimately been worth it. I have a
better-paying, more challenging job in my industry.”
´&RQILGHQFH,IHHOWKLVZDVWKHJUHDWHVWWKLQJ,
gained from my FEMBA experience.”
The Merage School’s FEMBA program is one of four
MBA programs offered through the University of California, Irvine, and tailored to meet the needs of working
professionals. To learn more about the program visit
merage.uci.edu/go/femba.
39
Merage |
2013 – 2014
Launching New Masters
MPAc
New Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) Underway
THE MERAGE SCHOOL’S NEW MPAc program got underway
in fall 2013 with a full cohort of 54 students. A unique
offering, MPAc was designed to prepare graduates for
entry- and mid-level positions within accounting firms,
private companies or public/non-profit organizations.
One of the
distinctive
aspects of
the program
curriculum
is the focus
on career
development.
MSBTM
New Program Reveals the DNA of Business
THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
program got underway in fall 2013 with an
impressive group of biotechnology individuals seeking to
bridge the gap between science and management.
Over the next two years, MSBTM students will experience specialized learning in the field of biotechnology
while taking experiential MBA management-level courses
to discover if business is in their DNA. Learning through
a truly interdisciplinary program, MSBTM students will
experience a curriculum comprised of courses from the
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in
(MSBTM)
MSEM
Built in to the program’s structure is an opportunity for
students to participate in a one-quarter paid internship
during the winter, which coincides with the accounting
industry’s busiest season. The goal of the internship is
to provide up-and-coming accounting professionals with
valuable experience and the ability to offset some tuition
expenses.
Combined with undergraduate preparation in accounting, MPAc graduates will be able to meet the new 2014
State of California Board of Accountancy educational
standards for licensure as a Certified Public Accountant
in California. Learn more at merage.uci.edu/go/MPAc.
the School of Biological Sciences, the Department of
Biomedical Engineering in The Henry Samueli School of
Engineering, and The Paul Merage School of Business.
“We’re excited to see the unique learning environment
this creates when they mix with MBA, MD/MBA, and
MS Engineering Management students,” adds Assistant
Dean Gary Lindblad.
The MSBTM is designed to prepare scientists for leadership roles in biotechnology, science, and engineeringbased companies. To learn more, visit merage.uci.edu/
go/MSBTM.
First Class Completes New MSEM Program
The inaugural Master of Science in Engineering Management (MSEM) class celebrates their success as the first graduates of the program. (From
Left) Professor Alladi Venkatesh from the Merage School, Abbas Naqvi, Sapna Bang, Johnway Yih, Amanda Gage, Kevin Leong, Kimberly Co,
Dongzi Chen, Jinelle D’souza, Ramraj Mulasa, and Professor John LaRue from The Henry Samueli School of Engineering. Introduced for the 20122013 school year, the Master of Science in Engineering Management is a graduate degree jointly offered by The Paul Merage School of Business
and The Henry Samueli School of Engineering that prepares engineers for leadership roles in technology, science, government, and engineeringbased companies and organizations. To learn more, visit merage.uci.edu/go/MSEM.
40
Merage on the Move
Faculty
has
joined the Merage
School’s Economics and Public
Policy area as an
assistant professor.
Alpert received her
BS in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Chicago,
and her PhD in Economics from the
University of Maryland. From 2011
to present, she has been working as
an associate economist at RAND
Corporation.
ABBY ALPERT
LUYI GUI joined
the Operations and
Decision Technologies area as an
assistant professor
in July 2013. Gui
has a Bachelor of
Science in Mathematics from Zhejiang University, and is finishing her
PhD in Operations Research from
the School of Industrial and Systems
Engineering at Georgia Institute of
Technology.
MIREILLE JACOBSON has joined
the Economics
and Public Policy
area of the Merage
School as a tenured
associate professor. Jacobson received her BA in
Economics from the University of
Chicago, and her MA and PhD in
Economics from Harvard University.
She previously held assistant and
associate professor positions at UC
Irvine in the School of Social Ecology. From 2009 to present, she has
been working as a senior economist
and deputy director of Health Economics at RAND Corporation.
RADHIKA
LUNAWAT
joined
the Accounting
area as an assistant
professor in July
2013. Lunawat
completed her
Bachelor of Commerce at Calcutta
University, became certified as a
Chartered Accountant, and earned
her PhD in Accounting from the
Carlson School of Management,
University of Minnesota. She is
currently a visiting assistant professor at the Tepper School of Business,
Carnegie Mellon University.
PROFESSOR
TERRY SHEVLIN
accepted the role
of PhD program
director in July
2013, for a renewable three year
term. Shevlin, who earned his PhD
from Stanford University, joined the
Merage School faculty as professor of
Accounting in the summer of 2012
after 26 years as a faculty member at
the University of Washington. There
he held various administrative positions including faculty director of
the PhD Program from 1998-2006
and Accounting Department chair
from 2006-2012.
Staff
LEE ANNE MAKI
was promoted to
associate director
of the Center for
Investment and
Wealth Management. Maki has
more than ten years experience in
project management, real estate and
reporting to C-level executives.
VALERIE NELLEN,
PHD, has joined
the Merage School
as executive director of Executive
Education. Nellen
received her BA in
Psychology from Harvard College
and a PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University with a specialization in Organizational Development. She has held Operations and
Consulting positions at Conexant
and PRTM, and was a vice president
of Human Resources and a Project
Executive at HireRight Inc. Nellen
currently teaches in the Certificate in
Management for Technical Professionals program.
ALDA RUGGIERO has been promoted
to director of Financial Aid for the
Merage School. Ruggiero began her
career at UC Irvine with the campus
Financial Aid Office in 1986. In
2003, she transferred to the Merage
School serving as the Financial Aid
Counselor for our MBA programs.
DIANE SAGEY
has accepted
the position as
assistant dean of
Operations. In this
new role, she has
direct responsibility for the Merage School’s strategic
planning process, process improvement, brand management, communications, marketing and market
research, new programs research,
and events management. She also
oversees the marketing and launch of
the new building and has supervisory
responsibilities for the John S. and
Marilyn Long U.S.-China Institute
for Business and Law and the Center
for Global Leadership.
41
Merage |
2013 – 2014
FACULTY INSIGHTS
Turner’s Take on
of operations and decision technologies, John Turner has devoted himself to
making sense of data. Whether it involves assessing if
lives hanging in the balance can be more easily saved, or
something less critical, like effective advertising, the goal
is the same – to make sound business decisions based
on analytics.
“Roughly speaking, analytics can be broken into two
buckets – predictive and prescriptive – they’re very complementary,” Turner says. “Predictive is using statistics
to find patterns in data and trying to understand what
is happening and causing things to happen. An example
of predictive analytics would be forecasting sales growth
based on previous sales patterns. Prescriptive analytics,
on the other hand, uses optimization to exploit known
relationships to their fullest, and answers the question
of what we should do, given what we’ve learned from our
predictive models. While we can learn a lot from both
types of analytics, the focus of most of my research is
on the prescriptive side.”
Recently, as part of a larger Korean Ministry of Health
and Welfare (KMHW) study, Turner and co-authors SooHaeng Cho, Hoon Jang and Taesik Lee, put prescriptive
analytics to the test. Titled, Simultaneous Location of
Trauma Centers and Helicopters for Emergency Medical
Service Planning, the study attempts to figure out the
best placement of trauma centers in connection with the
helicopters used for transporting patients in a particular
geographic area. “One way to solve this problem is to
figure out the best points for the trauma centers first,
and then think about siting helicopters,” Turner says.
“That’s what most people would probably do. But, with
today’s technology and modeling, we can actually tackle
AS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
42
experience FACULTY INSIGHTS
both elements – trauma centers and helicopters – simultaneously, which leads to a better trauma care system
design.”
Turner and his team developed a model and solved
it to see how many trauma patients might be successfully transported to a trauma center within an hour. The
results of their efforts will help the KMHW to increase
residents’ benefits as it expands its healthcare plans. In
fact, Turner’s research estimates that in a country the
size of Korea, simply altering the locations of trauma
centers in relation to helicopters can save thousands of
additional lives each year.
“The more accurate you can make the model, the
more computationally challenging it’s going to be for
you,” Turner says. “This particular study was a lot of
work, but the rewards, in terms of improvements to
healthcare, were obvious.”
The Power of Advertising
In the era of big data, however, it isn’t always obvious how the statistical collections will be used. Take the
case of advertising, for instance. We all know our online
consumer activity is sometimes tracked but how do advertisers and marketing companies make sense of it and
truly utilize it? Turner is quick to remind us of the John
Wanamaker adage: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don’t know which half.”
Turner attempts to know.
In a recent paper, The Planning of Targeted Display Advertising, Turner focused his models on areas such as audience uncertainty and forecast error. He describes how
the variance of impressions served can be minimized
and how reach can be maximized. The paper also tackles
the Num6ers
by Eric Butterman
the computational challenge of solving large ad planning
problems, for which a specialized method for approximately segmenting viewers was developed. Despite all
the recent technological advances in the online advertising space, Turner believes big data still has a long way to
go in terms of its effect on advertising – and the effect
on consumer spending should be strong.
In fact, Turner, who was a 2012 Yahoo! Faculty
Research & Engagement Program Scholar, holds a fair
amount of optimism about where data collection can
take us overall. “The important thing to understand is
that problems aren’t easy or hard for computers based
on how large the numbers are,” Turner says. “It’s what
we’re trying to measure that’s the key. The issue is that
some problems which are easy for people are hard for
computers, like recognizing a horse when you see it.
Whereas, other problems are hard for people, but easy
for computers, like counting the number of people
named “John” in the phone book. The magic starts
to happen when algorithmic advances in the fields of
optimization and data mining start making the problems
that were historically challenging for computers manageable at the scales that make a real impact in our lives.”
Despite the public assumption of widespread personal
data recording, Turner
actually believes that
companies aren’t taking
advantage of
big data nearly as much as
they could.
“Companies may actually end up
playing
catch-up, creating more projects for
collection and being under the gun to find
value,” he notes. In Turner’s mind, “if you think
analytics and big data are hot now, just wait.”
is an assistant
professor of Operations &
Decision Technologies at The
Paul Merage School of Business since 2010. His research
focuses on planning, scheduling, and pricing online advertising. He is most interested
in new models, new insights,
and new applications, as well as new theory and efficient
algorithms for solving such problems.
Currently, Turner teaches Management Science and
Operations Management, and integrates real-world
examples from advertising and other industries into the
classroom.
Highlights from his research include:
JOHN TURNER
+RZWRHIIHFWLYHO\VFKHGXOHDGVLQWRFRQVROHEDVHG
3D video games
$PRGHOLQJSDUDGLJPIRUDEURDGFODVVRI GLVSOD\
advertising, called Guaranteed Targeted Display Advertising
$QHIILFLHQWGXDOLW\EDVHGDOJRULWKPIRUSODQQLQJ
Guaranteed Targeted Display Advertising
More broadly, his interests include media management, revenue management, applied optimization, and
problems that lie at the interface of operations and
marketing.
Learn more about Professor Turner at
merage.uci.edu/go/jturner.
43
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
FACULTY INSIGHTS
Research Summaries
Faculty research is an important
ACCOUNTING
part of the Merage School’s focus
The Stock Selection and
Performance of Buy-Side Analysts
on strategic innovation. This
section includes summaries of
18 recent papers by our faculty
members (names in bold) or
co-written with colleagues from
other UC Irvine departments or
other universities.
Please visit merage.uci.edu/go/research and
merage.uci.edu/go/ResearchInAction for more
business research topics.
44
By Professor Devin Shanthikumar
Co-authors: Boris Groysberg, Paul
Healy, and George Serafeim
Accepted at: Management Science
PRIOR RESEARCH on equity analysts
focuses almost exclusively on those
employed by sell-side investment banks and brokerage houses. Yet investment firms undertake their own
buy-side research and their analysts face different stock
selection and recommendation incentives than their
sell-side peers. This study examined the selection and
performance of stocks recommended by analysts at a
large investment firm relative to those of sell-side analysts from mid-1997 to 2004. Researchers found that the
buy-side firm’s analysts issue less optimistic recommendations for stocks with larger market capitalizations and
lower return volatility than their sell-side peers, consistent with their facing fewer conflicts of interest and having a preference for liquid stocks. Tests with no controls
for these effects indicate that annualized buy-side Strong
Buy/Buy recommendations underperform those for
sell-side peers by 5.9% using market-adjusted returns
and by 3.8% using four-factor model abnormal returns.
However, these findings are driven by differences in the
stocks recommended and their market capitalization.
After controlling for these selection effects, they found no
difference in the performance of the buy- and sell-side
analysts’ Strong Buy/Buy recommendations.
Does Voluntary Adoption of a
Clawback Provision Improve
Financial Reporting Quality?
By Professor Terry Shevlin
Co-authors: Ed deHaan and
Frank Hodge
Accepted at: Contemporary
Accounting Research
THIS STUDY EXAMINED whether financial reporting quality improves after firms voluntarily
adopt a compensation clawback provision. Clawback
provisions allow companies to recoup excess incentive
pay in the event of an accounting restatement, and are
intended to ex ante deter managers from publishing misstated accounting information and to ex post penalize
managers who do so. For the period 2007 – 2009, these
researchers’ difference-in-differences analysis revealed
significant improvements in both actual and perceived
financial reporting quality following clawback adoption,
relative to a propensity-matched set of control firms.
They also found an increase in compensation for CEOs
who are subject to new clawback provisions, as well
as an increase in the sensitivity of cash compensation
to accounting performance. In cross-sectional tests,
their findings indicated that “robust” clawback provisions, those that apply to restatements caused by either
intentional or unintentional errors, have an incrementally
larger impact on financial reporting quality and compensation than do clawback provisions that apply only to
restatements involving fraud.
Board Interlocks and Earnings
Management Contagion
By Professor Siew Hong Teoh
Co-authors: Peng-Chia Chiu, PhD ’13
and Feng Tian
Accepted at: The
Accounting Review
THESE RESEARCHERS tested whether
earnings management spreads between firms via shared
directors. They found that a firm is more likely to manage earnings when it shares a common director with
“
a firm that is currently
These findings
managing earnings, and
is less likely to manage
support the
earnings when it shares a
view that board
common director with a
non-manipulator. Earnmonitoring plays
ings management contagion is stronger when
a key role in the
the shared director has a
leadership or accountingcontagion and
relevant position (e.g.,
quality of firms’
audit committee chair
or member) on its board
financial
or the contagious firm’s
board. Irregularity contareports.
gion is stronger than error contagion. The board
contagion effect is robust to controlling for endogenous
matching of firms with directors, fixed firm/director
effects, incidence of M&A, industry, and contagion via
a common auditor or geographical proximity. These
findings support the view that board monitoring plays a
key role in the contagion and quality of firms’ financial
reports.
”
FINANCE
Overvalued Equity and
Financing Decisions
By Professors David
Hirshleifer and Siew
Hong Teoh
Co-author: Ming
Dong
Accepted at: The
Review of Financial
Studies
THE AUTHORS of this study tested whether and how
equity overvaluation affects corporate financing decisions using an ex ante misvaluation measure that filters
firm scale and growth prospects from market price. They
found that equity issuance and total financing increase
with equity overvaluation, but only among overvalued
stocks; and that equity issuance is more sensitive than
debt issuance to misvaluation. Consistent with managers
catering to maintain overvaluation and with investment
scale economy effects, the sensitivity of equity issuance
and total financing to misvaluation is stronger among
firms with potential growth opportunities (low book-tomarket, high R&D, or small size) and high share turnover.
45
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
INNOVATION
FACULTY
INSIGHTS
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Impact of Cloud Computing:
Should the IT Department be
Organized as a Cost-Center or
a Profit-Center?
By Professor Vidyanand Choudhary
Co-author: Joseph Vithayathil, PhD
’13
Accepted at: Journal of Management
Information Systems
HOW DOES the adoption of cloud computing by a firm impact the organizational structure of its
IT department? To analyze this question these authors
considered an IT department that procures IT services
from a cloud computing vendor and enhances these
services for consuming units within the firm. The model
incorporates the competitive environment faced by the
cloud vendor, which affects the price and quality of the
cloud vendor.
They found that
when the cloud
Infrastructure services
vendor faces
intense compesuch as basic storage,
tition, the costcenter model
email or raw computing
is preferred
face intense competition
over the profitcenter model.
and our results suggest
Infrastructure
services such as
that such services be
basic storage,
email or raw
offered as a free corpocomputing face
rate resource under the
intense competition and our
cost-center.
results suggest
that such services be offered as
a free corporate resource under the cost-center. When the
cloud vendor has pricing power, a profit-center organizational structure is likely to be preferred. The researchers’
results suggest that highly differentiated services such
as cloud-based enterprise ERP or Business Intelligence
(BI) be offered under the profit-center structure. Additionally, the profit-center structure provides greater internal
quality enhancement to cloud-based IT services than the
cost-center.
“
”
46
Social Media, Traditional Media,
and Music Sales
By Professor Sanjeev Dewan
Co-author: Jui Ramaprasad, PhD ’09
Accepted at: Management
Information Systems Quarterly
MOTIVATED BY the growing importance
of social media, this paper examines
the relationship between new media, old media, and
sales, in the context of the music industry. In particular,
the paper studies the interplay between blog buzz, radio
play and music sales, at both the album and song levels
of analysis. The researchers employed the Panel Vector
Auto-regression (PVAR) methodology, an extension of
vector auto-regression to panel data. They found that
radio play is consistently and positively related to future
sales at both the song and album levels. Blog buzz,
however, is not related to album sales and negatively
related to song sales, suggesting that sales displacement due to free online sampling dominates any positive
word-of-mouth effects of song buzz on sales. Further,
the negative relationship between song buzz and sales is
stronger for niche music relative to mainstream music,
and for less popular songs within albums. The implications of these results for both research and practice
regarding the role of new media in the music industry is
discussed.
MARKETING
Information Processing Pattern
and Propensity to Buy: An
Investigation of Online
Point-of-Purchase Behavior
By Professor Imran Currim
Co-authors: Ivan Jeliazkov and
Ofer Mintz, PhD ’12
Accepted at: Marketing Science
THE INFORMATION processing literature provides a wealth of laboratory
evidence on the effects that the choice task and individual
characteristics have on the extent to which consumers
engage in alternative- versus attribute-based information processing. Less attention has been paid to studying
how the processing pattern at the point of purchase is
associated with propensity to buy in shopping settings.
To understand this relationship, researchers formulated
a discrete choice model and performed formal model
comparisons to distinguish among several possible
dependence structures. They considered models involving an existing measure of information processing,
PATTERN, a latent variable version of this measure, and
several new refinements and generalizations. Analysis of
a unique dataset of 895 shoppers on a popular electronics website supports the latent variable specification and
provides validation for several hypotheses and modeling
components. They found a positive relationship between
alternative-based processing and purchase, and a tendency of lower price-category shoppers to engage in alternative-based processing. The results also support the case
for joint modeling and estimation. These findings can
be useful for future work in information processing, and
suggest that likely buyers can be identified while engaged
in information processing prior to purchase commitment,
an important first step in targeting decisions.
Reference Dependence and
Conjoint Analysis
By Professor Imran Currim
Co-author: Ofer Mintz, PhD ’12
Accepted at: Journal of Marketing
TO INCREASE MARKETING’S accountability, the Journal of Marketing along
with the Marketing Science Institute, and Institute for the Study of Business Markets
have advocated development of marketing metrics and
linking marketing mix activities with financial metrics.
While progress has been made, less attention has been
paid to what drives managerial use of marketing and
financial metrics and whether metric use is associated
with marketing mix performance. A conceptual model is
proposed which links firm strategy, metric orientation,
type of marketing mix activity, and managerial, firm, and
environmental characteristics to marketing and financial
metric use, which in turn are linked to performance of
marketing mix activities. An analysis of 1,287 marketing
mix activities reported by 439 U.S. managers reveals that
firm strategy, metric orientation, type of marketing mix
activity, and firm and environmental characteristics are
more useful than managerial characteristics in explaining
use of marketing and financial metrics, and use of metrics is positively associated with marketing mix performance. Results allow identification of conditions under
which managers use less metrics and how metric use
can be increased to improve marketing mix performance.
Bridging Cultural Divides: The Role
and Impact of Binational Families
By Professor Mary Gilly
Co-author: Samantha N. Cross, PhD ’09
Accepted at: Journal of Public Policy &
Marketing
in essence, is a marriage of cultures, providing a bridge between previously disconnected cultural
dispositions and consumption experiences. This essay
posits that studying the role and impact of this culturally diverse micro-setting adds to the field’s knowledge
and appreciation of culturally heterogeneous interactions. Understanding the impact of the binational family
has several societal and public policy implications. The
authors challenge researchers to think of the binational
family as an important and relevant context in which to
explore marketplace diversity, inclusion, and creativity.
THE BINATIONAL HOUSEHOLD,
Contract Design with a Dominant
Retailer and a Competitive Fringe
Professor Sreya Kolay
Co-author: Greg Shaffer
Accepted at: Management Science
CHANNEL COORDINATION HAS been
a major focus of the literature on
vertical contracting in distribution
channels. Early work in this area (for example, Jeuland
and Shugan (1983) and Moorthy (1987)) suggested
the equivalence of two commonly observed contracts,
two-part pricing and quantity discounts, in terms of
both coordinating the channel
and dividing the
This is an important
surplus between
market structure to
an upstream
manufacturer
consider because of
and a downstream retailer.
the increasing attention
Since then, various papers have
given to dominant retailsuggested that
ers, such as Walmart, in
this equivalence
need not extend
both the popular media
to settings in
which downand in policy circles.
stream retailers
“
”
Merage
47
| 2013 – 2014
FACULTY INSIGHTS
compete. This paper examines the channel coordination problem in a market characterized by a dominant
retailer and a competitive fringe of price–taking retailers. This is an important market structure to consider
because of the increasing attention given to dominant
retailers, such as Walmart, in both the popular media
and in policy circles. In this market setting, researchers
showed that under some general conditions, quantity
discounts and two-part tariffs are indeed equivalent as
mechanisms for channel coordination. They considered a
setting in which the manufacturer can make discriminatory offers to downstream retailers, and another setting
in which the manufacturer must offer the same menu of
pricing options to downstream retailers. They showed
that the upstream manufacturer’s profit in both settings
is independent of whether quantity discounts or two-part
pricing schemes are used. One implication of this finding is that the manufacturer’s choice of contract design
may simply turn on which one is easier to implement.
Avoiding Poor Health or
Approaching Good Health: Does
It Matter? Conceptualization,
Measurement and Consequences
of Health Regulatory Focus
By Professor Connie Pechmann
Co-authors: Adilson Borges and
Pierrick Gomez
Accepted at: Journal of Consumer
Psychology
THIS RESEARCH presents a new scale,
the health regulatory focus scale, which measures an
individual’s tendency to use promotion (approach) or
prevention (avoidance) strategies in the pursuit of health
goals. For this paper, researchers conducted five studies
in France to develop the scale which is made up of two
subscales for prevention and promotion. They also tested
the scale’s psychometric properties and demonstrated
its two-factor dimensionality, internal and test-retest
reliability, and convergent, nomological, predictive and
discriminant validity. The health subscales showed good
predictive validity in that they correlated with health
behaviors better than the general regulatory focus subscales. For instance, health promotion focus predicted
dentist visits while general promotion focus did not,
and health prevention focus predicted use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs while general prevention
focus did not. Also as expected, general prevention focus
48
“
predictThe health subscales showed
ed avoidance of
good predictive validity in that
risky
vacation
they correlated with health bebehavhaviors better than the general
iors
while
regulatory focus subscales.
health
prevention focus did not. The health subscales either did not
correlate or correlated weakly with positive and negative affectivity and general risk aversion indicating good
discriminant validity. The one-year test-retest reliabilities
were adequate for both subscales.
”
Dynamic Use Diffusion Model
in a Cross-National Context: A
Comparative Study of the U.S.,
Sweden and India
By Professor Alladi Venkatesh
Co-authors: Steven Chen, PhD ’09,
Erik Kruse, and Eric Shih, PhD ’00
Accepted at: Journal of Product
Innovation Management
THIS STUDY PROPOSES a model of dynamic use diffusion that serves as a basis for investigating post-adoption technology usage behavior. Dynamic
use diffusion measures the extent to which technology
usage has evolved since the time of adoption. Herein,
antecedents and consequences of dynamic use diffusion
are investigated. A large-scale, random sample survey
was conducted in the U.S., Sweden and India on the use
of Internet and computing technology. The survey results suggest that while the antecedents of dynamic use
diffusion are similar
across the three
A large-scale, random countries, the consequences are somesample survey was
what different for
conducted in the U.S., India. These differences can be attribSweden and India on uted to the national
cultural differences
the use of Internet
of India compared to
the U.S. and Sweden
and computing
with regard to powerdistance beliefs.
technology.
“
”
Design Orientation: A Grounded
Theory Analysis of Design
Thinking and Action
By Professor Alladi Venkatesh
Co-authors: Steven Chen, PhD ’09,
Theresa Digerfeldt-Månsson, and
Frédéric F. Brunel
Accepted at: Marketing Theory
THE NOTION of design thinking or
‘design as a state-of-mind’ and its articulation through
design orientation implies that true innovation is a
company-wide phenomenon and cannot be left to single
individuals as a marginalized function within a company.
Many innovative companies try to integrate technical
performance with an aesthetic vision – which is not to be
confused with style – as the driving force of the organization. Based on field work involving Swedish design
companies, this study provides empirical insights and
theoretical propositions that cover various aspects of
design innovation and orientation.
OPERATIONS AND
DECISION TECHNOLOGIES
A Further Exploration of the
Uncertainty Effect
By Professor Robin Keller
Co-author: Yitong Wang and Tianjun
Feng, PhD ’08
Accepted at: Journal of Risk and
Uncertainty
INDIVIDUAL VALUATION of a binary
lottery at values less than the lottery’s worst outcome
has been designated as the “uncertainty effect”. This
paper aims to explore the boundary conditions of the
uncertainty effect by investigating a plausible underlying
process and proposing two possible methods. First, the
authors examined how providing an exogenous evaluation opportunity prior to judging the value of the lottery
affects individuals’ judgments, and found that first valuing the worst outcome and then the lottery eliminates
the uncertainty effect. Second, they explored if introducing additional cognitive load dampens how far decision
makers correct their initial evaluations, and found that
additional cognitive load is able to eliminate the uncertainty effect.
Returns Policies Between Channel
Partners for Durable Products
By Professor Shuya Yin
Co-authors: Mehmet Gumus and
Saibal Ray
Accepted at: Marketing Science
with relatively short selling seasons have been
using returns policies between manufacturers and retailers as the contractual protocol for some time. Recently,
these sectors have witnessed the growing popularity of
peer-to-peer (P2P) web-based used goods markets as
important transaction channels between buyers and
sellers. Given that these two issues are critically linked
from both supply and demand perspectives, researchers
studied what role consumer valuation of used products
plays in shaping a manufacturer’s incentive to offer a returns policy option to a retailer, when used goods might
be devalued
compared to
Many durable products
new ones due to
physical deteriowith relatively short sellration (or obsolescence). They
ing seasons have been
did so through
using returns policies
a two-period
dyadic chanbetween manufacturers
nel framework
where the reand retailers as the
tailer faces uncertain demand
contractual protocol
for a durable
for some time.
product from a
renewable set
of customers, who are impatient but forward-looking.
The manufacturer, on the other hand, needs to decide
whether or not to offer a returns contract to the retailer.
They first characterized the necessary and sufficient condition under which a returns contract is the equilibrium
strategy as well as the corresponding channel decisions.
Further analysis of this condition revealed that higher
consumer valuation of used products increased the
likelihood of a returns contract to be the equilibrium
strategy. This result seems to be robust except when the
potential demands for the two periods are quite deterministic and uncorrelated. However, it contradicts the
burgeoning managerial trend to replace returns contracts
with price-only ones in sectors where used goods are
valued relatively highly by the consumers. The researchers also discuss how used goods markets affect the
MANY DURABLE PRODUCTS
“
”
49
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
FACULTY INSIGHTS
equilibrium channel decisions as well as how demand
uncertainty and logistics costs associated with returns
influence the equilibrium contracting strategy.
ATM Pricing and Location Games
in the Banking Industry
By Professor Shuya Yin
Co-authors: Reynold Byers and
Xiaona Zheng
Accepted at: Asia-Pacific Journal of
Operational Research
THIS PAPER studies a competitive
Hotelling-style market with two symmetric banks that
decide the pricing and location of their automated teller
machines (ATMs). Two different systems are considered:
an unregulated model wherein banks are allowed to set
surcharges, and a regulated model in which surcharges
are banned. Researchers derived equilibrium outcomes
and compared them in the two systems, and found that
banks always maintain a certain distance between ATMs.
That distance is larger, indeed maximized, under the
regulatory scheme. They also showed that, surprisingly,
banks would actually always perform better in the regulated model, while consumers may be worse off.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Corporate Social Responsibility as a
Source of Employee Satisfaction
By Professor Christopher Bauman
Co-author: Linda Skitka
Accepted at: Research in
Organizational Behavior
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
has received an increasing amount of
attention from practitioners and scholars alike in recent
years. However, very little is known about whether or how
corporate social responsibility affects employees. Because employees are primary stakeholders who directly
contribute to the success of the company, understanding employee reactions to corporate social responsibility
may help answer lingering questions about the potential
effects of corporate social responsibility on firms as
well as illuminate some of the processes responsible for
them. This paper provides a brief history of scholarship
on corporate social responsibility and highlights some of
the major challenges researchers in this area currently
50
face. It also discusses why corporate social responsibility
may represent a special opportunity to influence employees’ general impression of their company. Four distinct
paths are identified through which corporate social responsibility may affect employees’ relationship with their
company that correspond to four universal psychological
needs: security, self-esteem, belongingness, and a meaningful existence. In close, the paper offers an agenda for
micro-level research on corporate social responsibility.
The Effects of Firm Reputation
and Status on Interorganizational
Network Structure
By Professor Christine Beckman
Co-authors: David Chandler, Pamela
Haunchild, and Mooweon Rhee
Accepted at: Strategic Organization
THIS ARTICLE explores the differential
effects of a firm’s reputation and
status on its interorganizational network. The authors
hypothesize that due to its stable, unitary, and relational
characteristics, status has a stronger influence on partner selection than reputation, which is less stable, multidimensional, and based more on perceptions of product
“
...high-status firms have networks that
are higher in partner quality but are
less diverse and contain fewer opportunities to bridge structural holes than the
networks of high-reputation firms.
”
quality and financial performance. Results from the
analyses of the director networks of the 300 largest U.S.
firms from 1985 to 1993 confirm that across multiple
measures of network characteristics, it is status that is
the stronger predictor. In particular, high-status firms
have networks that are higher in partner quality but are
less diverse and contain fewer opportunities to bridge
structural holes than the networks of high-reputation
firms. These results contribute to an understanding of
the different effects of reputation and status on firm behavior by emphasizing the importance of studying both
together in order to understand the effects of either.
They also contribute to work on interorganizational networks by demonstrating how structure emerges primarily
as a function of focal firm status.
Merage School Faculty
LQWKH1HZV
A W A R D
W I N N E R S
PHILIPPE JORION, professor of Finance,
received a Graham and Dodd Scroll Award
for his 2012 paper, “Is There a Cost to Transparency?” This award recognizes excellence
in financial writing, and is given by the Advisory Council and Editorial Board of the Financial Analysts
Journal, the premier finance journal for practitioners.
TERRY SHEVLIN,
PhD program director, professor of Accounting and Paul Merage chair in
Business Growth, was named co-recipient of
the 2012 American Accounting Association
Outstanding Educator Award presented at the
AAA Annual Meeting held in August 2012.
N
E
W
S
M
A
K
E
R
S
MARY C. GILLY, professor of Management at
the Merage School, has been elected 201314 Academic Senate Vice Chair. Gilly has
chaired the Irvine division of the Academic
Senate since 2012.
DAVID HIRSHLEIFER, Paul Merage chair in
Business Growth and professor of Finance,
gave the keynote speech titled, “Moral Attitudes and Financial Decision Making,” at
the 23rd Annual Conference on Financial
Economics and Accounting. Hosted by a consortium of
eight universities, the conference was held November 16,
2012, at the University of southern California.
L. ROBIN KELLER, professor of Operations
and Decision Technologies, completed six
years as editor-in-chief of Decision Analysis at
the end of December 2012.
MARGARETHE WIERSEMA, Dean’s professor of Strategy, was appointed a Strategic
Management Society Fellow in Fall of 2012
in recognition for her significant contributions to the theory and practice of strategic
management. Wiersema is among only 62 Strategic Management Society Fellows worldwide.
YU ZHANG, assistant professor of Strategy,
won the BlackRock/NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) Global
Challenge for Innovation in Corporate Governance, a research paper competition held
in May 2012 with his paper titled, “Earnings Pressure and
Long-Term Corporate Governance: Can Long-Term-Oriented Investors and Managers Fend off Short-Term Analyst
Earnings Pressures?” As a result of his award, Zhang was invited to present as a keynote speaker at the NACD Spring
Forum in NYC held May 21, 2013.
Yahoo! Grant Provides Students
with Unique Experience
John Turner, assistant professor of Operations and Decision Technologies at Merage School, was awarded a 2012
Yahoo! Faculty Research Grant for studying computational issues that arise in advertising planning problems.
Turner was among 26 recipients selected this year from
21 universities.
During his Spring 2013 quarter sabbatical, Turner
spent time at Yahoo!’s Sunnyvale campus. He and PhD
student Ali Hojjat, who interned at Yahoo! this past summer, are currently working on a paper in conjunction
with Yahoo!’s scientists.
The Yahoo! grant is part of Yahoo!’s Faculty and
Research and Engagement Program (FREP) which is
designed to produce the highest quality scientific collaborations and outcomes by engaging with faculty and
students conducting research in areas of mutual interest.
The FREP funds help academics across the globe collaborate with Yahoo! research scientists on new, exciting
internet research studies and experiments.
N E W
R E L E A S E S
LYMAN PORTER
Professor Emeritus at the Merage School
Co-author: Brooks Holtom
Disrupt or Be Disrupted: A Blueprint for
Change in Management Education
In the section of the book titled, “The
Change Imperative,” Holtom and Porter identify how
marketplace forces, such as new competitors, technological
advancements, globalization and economic fluctuations are
challenging the very core of graduate management education and rendering the business schools status quo unsustainable. They also preview their recommendations for
how innovations in research, faculty training, curriculum
design, student engagement, and quality measurement can
impact the future of graduate business education.
51
Merage |
2013 – 2014
FACULTY INSIGHTS
GREGORY AUTRY, PhD
Adjunct Professor, University of
Southern California
Autry specializes in the area of
Economics, Public Policy and
Strategic Management. Autry also holds an
MBA from the Merage School and a Bachelor of
Arts in History from the California Polytechnic
University at Pomona.
Autry’s research interests include governmental influence on entrepreneurial environments,
entrepreneurial strategies in reaction to governmental policy, innovation policy, trade policy,
technology transfer and national competitive
advantage.
PENG-CHIA CHIU, PhD
Assistant Professor, Chinese
University in Hong Kong
PhDs Expand
the Reach of the
Merage School
Graduates from the Merage School’s PhD
program have found success across the nation
and beyond. By accepting professorships with
prestigious universities, these graduates help
expand the influence of the Merage School.
52
Chiu specializes in the area of
accounting and did his dissertation on the relation between accounting earnings and stock returns. He received his PhD in
2013 from The Paul Merage School of Business
and his Master of Science from Stanford. He
also holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.
JOSHUA HERNSBERGER, PhD
Assistant Professor, Western
Kentucky University
Hernsberger teaches in the
area of management. He did
his dissertation on the role of status in executive succession and imitation, and specialized
in business strategy while studying at The Paul
Merage School of Business. He received his
PhD in 2013.
JAMES M. LEONHARDT, PhD
Assistant Professor, New Mexico
State University
Leonhardt completed his PhD
in Management, with a concentration in Marketing, in 2013. He now teaches
Marketing at New Mexico State University. In
addition to his PhD, Leonhardt holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California,
Berkeley.
ARSENIO STAER, PhD
Assistant Professor, California State
University at Fullerton
Staer is teaching Finance at California
State University Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics. He studied at The Paul
Merage School of Business where he wrote his dissertation on empirical asset pricing in exchange-traded funds.
Staer received his PhD in 2013.
JOSEPH VITHAYATHIL, PhD
Assistant Professor, Washington State
University
Vithayathil teaches Global E-Commerce
at Washington State University’s College
of Business. His research interests are broadly in the
area of economics of information systems and the application of economic theory, agency theory and the related
issues of moral hazard, adverse selection, information
asymmetry and incentives in the context of information
systems. He received his PhD in Management in 2013.
He also holds an MBA from Harvard University, a Master
of Science in Systems Science and Mathematics from
Washington University in St. Louis, and a B. Tech. in
Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
MAJOR COLEMAN, PhD
Assistant Professor, Syracuse University
currently studying how an investor’s gut feel plays a role
in entrepreneurial decision-making, in addition to business viability data.
Professor Huang received her PhD from the Merage
School in 2013. She also holds an MBA from INSEAD,
and both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science
in Engineering from Duke University.
The Synergy of Sharing
The PhD program at the Merage School does more
than churn out new educators to share with the world, it
creates opportunities beyond the classroom for researchers to expand the breadth and depth of their knowledge
and share ideas through innovative collaboration programs including:
Research Colloquia provides a forum for interaction
among faculty, students, and visitors interested in new
ideas and applications to the fields of business and
management.
PhD “Brown Bag” presentations offer an opportunity
for our doctoral students and faculty to exchange ideas
on current issues and developments in their area of
specialization.
Through conferences, professional academic associations aim to nurture and support doctoral students in
their professional aspirations in academia.
Research Fest is a unique celebration of research that
provides a collegial, walk-around forum for students to
showcase their work with other UC Irvine doctoral students, faculty, PhD alumni, and members of the outside
community. This year’s Research Fest included 10 poster
Coleman is a professor of Finance in
Syracuse University’s Whitman School
of Management. His research interests
include behavioral finance, investments, and real estate
capital markets. Coleman received his PhD in Finance
from the Merage School in 2012. In addition, he holds
a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics for Finance
from the Baruch College-Mathematics Department at
City University of New York and a Bachelor of Arts in
Economics from Stanford University.
LAURA HUANG, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of
Pennsylvania
Huang is an Assistant Professor of
Management and Entrepreneurship
at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Her
research examines early-stage investment decisions,
and how perceptions and cues influence an individuals’
ability to make important, high-stakes decisions. She is
displays covering areas including Economics and Public
Policy, Information Systems, Marketing, Operations &
Decision Technologies, Organization & Management, and
Strategy. Each of the participating students was on-hand
to discuss their individual research projects and share
their ideas.
One of the most popular PhD events of the year,
Research Fest 2014 is scheduled for mid-April. A list
of student presenters and their poster topics/titles
will be announced in March 2014. Please contact
[email protected] for additional information.
53
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
COLLABORATION
Feel the Energy
THINGS ARE HAPPENING both inside and outside the new
Merage School building. With construction underway, the
excitement among surrounding business and community
members, is building.
“The groundbreaking ceremony in January 2013 established that the underlying purpose of the new structure
is to draw people together,” said Jeff Margolis of Margolis Enterprises, LLC, and chairman and CEO of WellTok,
Inc. “As the faculty, student and Orange County business
communities are now beginning to see visible signs of
progress, the excitement surrounding the promise of
synergistic opportunities is becoming palpable.”
The Merage School’s Building for the Future is the first
new facility added to the Merage School campus since
1989. Designed to reflect the innovation that takes place
in and around the school, the new building will facilitate
interaction and pay tribute to Orange County’s growth
and the success of the building’s supporters. Once
complete, the Building for the Future will serve as a hub for
innovation and collaboration.
“We are creating a positive atmosphere for business;
an overall experience beyond just learning,” said Don
Natenstedt, regional managing partner of the West
Region for McGladrey, LLP. “The new classrooms, dining
areas, meeting facilities, offices and auditorium spaces
will all feed the appetite of this community’s need for
interaction. It will facilitate the delivery of leading edge
discoveries, while generating synergy through essential
in-person collaboration.”
The nearly 80,000 square-foot building will boast a
number of amenities for students and educators, including a 300-seat auditorium, 20 small group study rooms,
high-tech classrooms, a trading and technology lab,
a colloquia room with a breathtaking outdoor terrace,
a career resource library, conference and group study
facilities, several dining areas and a 4,000 square foot
“grand terrace” overlooking the new courtyard central to
the Merage School campus.
The new building will be the centerpiece for Orange
County’s premier business community and the partnerships launched between the Merage School and the
entrepreneurs, executives and philanthropists who have
supported the school, including The Beall Family Foundation, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.®, Ranney and Priscilla
Draper, Experian, Ed Fuller, Paul and Elisabeth Merage
Family Foundation, PAAMCO and Wells Fargo.
Significant legacy and recognition opportunities still
exist within the new and current Merage School buildings.
Learn more by contacting Debi Klein at 949.824.4370 or
[email protected], or visit merage.uci.edu/go/building.
(l-r) Chris Callero, John Evans, Ed Fuller, Chancellor Michael Drake, Don Beall, Dean Andy Policano, Lilly & Paul Merage, Jane Buchan, Ranney
Draper, and Bernie Clark ceremoniously turn the dirt on the grounds of the new building at the Groundbreaking Ceremony held in January 2013.
54
experience COLLABORATION
DING
BUIL
A snapshot of construction progress taken in August 2013. View
time-lapse videos at merage.uci.edu/go/progress.
Raising
the Bar
by Anne Warde
A rendering of the west-side main entrance to the new Merage
School building.
Our heartfelt thanks go out to all of those who have contributed their gifts of time and support at
The Paul Merage School of Business, and especially those leaders whose early vision and support
have provided the foundation needed to make Building for the Future a reality.
CORPORATIONS
ROHL LLC
David and Victoria Collins
Paul and Lilly Merage
Anfield Capital Management
Sage Software
William Crampon
John B. Miner
Bank of the West
Sageview Advisory Group
Al DeGrassi
Mark and Cherilyn Moehlman
Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors
Schwab Charitable Fund
Pete Degregori
Mr. and Mrs. JD Montgomery
Beall Family Foundation
U.S. Bank
Terri Egan
Rick and Mary Mowday
Brown and Streza
Union Bank, N.A.
Paul J. Feldstein
Don and Ui Soon Natenstedt
California Community Foundation,
Inc.
Vertical Advisors
Ed and Michela Fuller
Greg R. Oldham
Virtium Technology
Roy E. Glauthier
Jennifer A. Parvin
The Capital Group Cos. Charitable
Foundation
Wealth Management Network, LLC
Richard and Linda Hackathorn
Christine Cope Pence
Wells Fargo Foundation
Jon P. Howell
Maggi Phillips and Mario Gerla
Western Asset Charitable Foundation
Donna Hsu
Ralph and Eva C. Rayner
Wood Gutman and Bogart Insurance
Brokers
Thomas Johnson
Karlene Roberts
Robin Keller
Sharon Rude
Rick Keller
Stephen Schwarz
Christopher Kilpatrick
Rick So
John L. King
Patricia Soldano
Kevin W. Kobelsky
Taryn Lyn Stanko
Harmon Kong
Richard and Sheila Steers
Richard and Darcy Kopcho
Alan and Gayle Stevenson
David Krackhardt
Eugene Frank Stone-Romero
Leon and Judy LaPorte
John and Mary Karyl Thorne
Edward and Patricia Lawler
Kristi Tyran
Robert Leamy
John Van Maanen
Marr and Anne Leisure
Alladi Venkatesh
Paige Macias
Penny Lou Wright
Scott Lewis Matthews
Nam and Sung Woo
John F. McKenna
William and Suzanne Yeomans
Carnegie Mellon University
Continental Food Management
Emulex
Experian
First American Trust
INDIVIDUALS
Genspring Family Offices
Steven J. Acterman
Global Benefits Group
Pam Adams
Hotchkis and Wiley
Richard F. Afable, M.D.
Inspired Financial
Laine and Lisa Ainsworth
Iwamoto Kong
Sharon L. Anderson
K & L Gates
Harold L. Angle
The Keller-Confair Family Trust
Thomas and Emmy Antunez III
The Charles D. and Twyla R. Martin
Foundation
Bill and Jane Bachman
Microsemi Corporation
Stewart J. Black
Morgan Advisory Group
Harry M. Briggs and Jone L. Pearce
PAAMCO
Patrick Cadigan
Payden & Rygel
Joseph Champoux
The Precept Group
Aditya Sanjiv Choksi
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Helmut and Lynda Cook
Rebella Accountancy
Leslie Berkes
Henry McMillan
Grace Bernadette Mclaughlin
Laurie Ann Meamber
Please see page 62 for DLC
Auditorium Legacy Seat Holders.
55
Merage
| 2013 – 2014
COLLABORATION
C O R P O R AT E
PA RT N E R S
Immigrant.
Entrepreneur.
Philanthropist.
by Anne Warde
Merage School Corporate Partner Phu Hoang
about these characteristics, he may just say they are
natural phases of life.
Today, Phu Hoang is founder and CEO of Virtium Technology, but he started his life journey as a refugee from
Vietnam. In 1984, he arrived in Ontario, Canada, with
literally the shirt on his back and the shoes on his feet as
his only possessions.
“I am a survivor,” said Hoang. And clearly that’s the
case. Shortly after his arrival in Canada, Hoang pursued
a computer engineering degree and soon earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo
in Canada. He focused on getting an education, saving
money and gaining work experience. In 1996, Hoang
earned an MBA from Northern Illinois University.
“It’s all part of finding balance as a human being. It’s
part of the progression,” said Hoang. “Early on, I knew
I wanted to be independent. I set realistic goals: get a
technical degree, work in corporate America, save some
money, earn an MBA to prepare and start my own business.”
In 1997, he did just that. “I received my green card
that year, which I needed to start my company, Virtium
Technology. That
same year, my first
child was born.”
It was about
that time that
Hoang made a vow
to himself never to
allow business to
interfere with family. “I knew I could
always start the
business again; I
could not start my
kids again,” said
Hoang.
IF YOU ASK
56
And that’s a commitment he holds to this day and a
value he instills in the more than 100 employees who
work for Virtium Technology, a computer storage and
memory company located in Rancho Santa Margarita,
California.
“It is important to keep a balance in life. My balance
involves my family, my career and my community, in that
order.”
Building a sustainable business was one of Hoang’s
goals. Due to the complexity of his business, he was able
to keep many of the jobs right here in California. His
commitment to the business community has earned him
recognition – Hoang was one of the entrepreneurs honored by the Orange County Business Journal in March
2013.
With his family in order and his career on an upward
trajectory, Hoang now finds time to focus on the community. “I have a passion for education. It gives people life
and hope,” Hoang commented.
This may account for why Hoang founded the nonprofit
organization called SAVICE, an acronym for “Save a
Vietnamese Child with Education.” It is also the reasoning behind why Hoang finds it important to be a Merage
School Corporate Partner.
“I want to be involved locally. Business education has
become my passion, working with students and would-be
entrepreneurs. I value the opportunity to pass my experience on to the community. It satisfies my desire to get
involved and give back.”
Hoang became a Merage School Corporate Partner
in 2010. He was one of the first Corporate Partners
to make a pledge to the Merage School’s new building
campaign in support of the Corporate Partners Executive
Boardroom.
“As an executive, it’s important to build on your
strengths to drive business. As a community member,
it’s important to find value in relationships with quality people in your community and build roots. Corporate Partners has helped me to do that here within the
Merage School community.”
Virtium Technology is a privately held, solutions-driven
designer and manufacturer of SSD storage and memory
solutions for embedded systems OEMs. Virtium focuses
on meeting the unique requirements of the embedded
computing, telecommunications, networking, storage,
avionics, IFEC, industrial and medical markets. The company has operations throughout North America, Europe
and Asia. Learn more about Virtium at virtium.com.
Corporate Partners’ mission is to create mutually beneficial partnerships between the corporate community
and The Paul Merage School of Business by providing
value added programs of exceptional quality. To learn
more, visit merage.uci.edu/go/CorporatePartners.
The Merage School Wants to Help You
Get More from Your Giving
Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRT) offer a unique opportunity for you to:
1 Provide much needed support for your favorite Merage School program
1 Obtain an income source which pays you a fixed percentage of the trust asset
1 Receive an income tax deduction
Here’s how it works.
Once the CRT is established, you designate the income beneficiaries, which can include
yourself or others, along with the charitable beneficiaries.
You then make a gift into the CRT, such as appreciated stocks or real estate. The assets sold
within the CRT are not subject to capital gains tax and 100 percent of the asset’s value is
invested. Beneficiaries of the CRT receive an income stream from this investment for the term
of the trust. You also receive a charitable income tax deduction.
Once the term is reached and the obligation to the income beneficiaries has been satisfied,
the remaining value of the trust is disbursed to charities, such as The Paul Merage School of
Business.
These are just some of the many unique advantages of a CRT. We invite you to learn more.
Contact Debi Klein, Chief Development Officer, at 949.824.4370 and get started today.
Concept for this UC Irvine Planned Giving opportunity graciously provided by: David M. Jones, CFP®, EMBA ’93, Director of Financial Planning at Yosemite Capital Management,
Dean’s Leadership Circle Visionary Member and Darren Whissen, MBA ’02, Chief Strategist at Atomi Financial Advisors, Dean’s Leadership Circle Member.
COLLABORATION
Thank You!
A sincere “thank you” from the faculty, staff, alumni and students of The Paul Merage School of Business to
our many supporters and donors. The community and business leaders listed below have helped to launch
the School’s Centers of Excellence and other important initiatives, and have devoted energy, talent and
wisdom to the Merage School.
As always, a special thanks to Paul and Lilly Merage for their tremendous and tireless efforts on our behalf.
DEAN’S ADVISORY BOARD:
Pamela M. Adams, CFP® ’98 – The
Adams Financial Group of Wells
Fargo Advisors
Richard Afable – Covenant Health
Network
Mike Aghajanian ’88 – PRTM
(retired)
Jacqueline Akerblom – Grant
Thorton LLP
Robert Anderson – Health Savings
Technology
Thomas Antunez ’05 – Prithvi
Percentix
Dave Austin – Rockwell Collins,
Cabin and ElectroMechanical
Systems
Craig A. Barbarosh – Katten Muchin
Rosenman LLP
Donald R. Beall – Rockwell,
Dartbrook Partners LLC
John A. Belli – Ernst & Young
Jeff Benck – Emulex
Katie Bianchi – Advantage Sales
and Marketing
Jane Buchan – Pacific Alternative
Asset Management Co.
Christopher Callero – Experian
Group
Bernie Clark – Schwab Advisor
Services
Michael A. Coglazier – Disneyland
Resort
Victoria Collins – First Foundation
Advisors
Christopher Coulter – The Precept
Group Inc.
John F. Della Grotta – Paul Hastings
Rick Dutta – Nexvisionix
Larry Emond – The Gallup
Organization
John Evans – Wells Fargo–Private
Client Services
Ed Fuller, Chair Emeritus – The
Group at Laguna
Thomas O. Gephart – Ventana
Neel Grover ’92 – Clearlake Capital
Group
William R. Halford – Bixby Land
Company
Julie Hill, Chair Emeritus – WellPoint, Lord Abbett Mutual Funds,
Lend Lease
Douglas Hutcheson ’91 – Leap
Wireless International, Inc.,
Cricket Communications LLC
Jeanne P. Jackson – Nike
Alan Kaye – Mattel, Inc.
Rick Keller – First Foundation
Advisors
Darcy Kopcho ’80 – Capital Group
International, Capital Guardian
Trust Company
John Krafcik – Hyundai Motor
America
Knute Kurtz –
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Leon LaPorte ’77 – US Army
(retired)
Marc Levin – Levin Capital
Management
Robert Lucenti – Deloitte & Touche
LLP
Charles Martin, Chair Emeritus –
Mont Pelerin Capital
Mike Mata – Web Advance
Jim McCluney – Emulex
James R. Mellor – USEC, Inc.
Paul Merage, Chair Emeritus – MIG
Capital, Suncore Products
Mark Moehlman – Beacon Pointe
Wealth Advisors
Kristen Monson ’86 – PIMCO
David J. Murphy – WikiBranding
Katherine S. Napier – Arbonne
International Natural Products
Group, Inc.
Don Natenstedt – McGladrey LLP
Ken Neeld ’06 – Delphi Display
Systems, Inc.
Victor Nichols – Experian North
America
Edmund Olivier – Oxford Bioscience
Partners
Paul A. O’Mara – Wells Fargo
Douglas J. Ongaro – PIMCO
James J. O’Sullivan – Mazda North
American Operations
Sue Parks – WalkStyles, Inc.
Daryl G. Pelc – Boeing Integrated
Defense Systems
Alan Pellegrini – Thales Group
Jim Peterson – Microsemi
Corporation
Andy Peykoff II – Niagara Water
David E. I. Pyott – Allergan, Inc.
Richard S. Reisman – Orange
County Business Journal
David J. Schramm – Maxwell
Technologies
Alan B. Sellers – SAIL Capital
Partners LLC
Kimberly Sentovich ’07 – Walmart
Richard Shields – Quicksilver
Paul G. Short – KPMG LLC
Patricia M. Soldano – GenSpring
Family Offices
Gregory M. E. Spierkel – Ingram
Micro, Inc.
Sue Swenson – Sage Group (retired)
Ariela Tannenbaum ’95 – Allianz
Global Investors
Peter V. Ueberroth – The Contrarian
Group, Inc.
Roberto Vasquez – SAIC
Tom Wagner ’89 – The Wagner
Group LLC
Bob Waltos – The Waltos Group
Jon Wampler – JRW Consulting
Chris White – Cisco
Kevin Wijayawickrama ’99 –
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Nam Woo – LG Electronics
Dean A. Yoost –
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Abbott Medical Optics, Inc.
Hyundai Motor America
Parker Hannifin Corporation
Thales USA
Arbonne International
IBM Corporation
Point B
The Boeing Company
Bausch + Lomb Surgical
Mazda North America Operations
PRECEPT
The Wet Seal, Inc.
CT Realty Investors
Microsemi Corporation
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Union Bank
Edwards Lifesciences
Northrop Grumman
ROHL LLC
Virtium Technology, Inc.
Emulex
One LLP
Sage
Walmart Stores Inc.
Experian
Pacific Alternative Asset
Management Company
(PAAMCO)
Shelly Automotive Group
Wells Fargo
Steelhead Brewery Co.
Yamaha Corporation of America
CORPORATE PARTNERS:
Global Benefits Group
HireRight, Inc.
58
Taco Bell Corporation
CENTER FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION BOARD MEMBERS:
Management Consultants (retired)
Stuart Frost – Frost Venture Partners
Allan Lubitz – Mercury Insurance
John Gantz – IDC
Jeff Margolis – Margolis Enterprises
Rebecca Scholl – Xerox Business
Services
Jeffrey Belk ’99 – ICT168 Capital,
LLC
Martin Giles – The Economist
Gary Meister ’91 – Western Digital
Julie Sokol – The Irvine Company
Shivbir Grewal – Stradling Yocca
Carlson & Rauth
Vijay Parikh – Global Catalyst
Partners
Tim Stanley – Salesforce.com
James Choi – Beckman Coulter
Dave Goff – Emulex
Philip Potloff – Edmunds.com
Dawn Trautman – Pacific Life
Peter Hinssen – Across Technology
Kalpana Ramakrishnan – KPMG, LLP
Ken Venner – SpaceX
Don Jones ’99 – Qualcomm
Raj Ramasamy – Thales Group
Scott Joslyn – MemorialCare Health
Nicholas Vitalarim PhD – UC Irvine,
Elasticity Labs
Sue-Jean Lin – Allergan
Ashwin Rangan – Edwards
Lifesciences
Jon Krause – Oakley
Shankar Rao – Optum HIE
Jim DiMarzio – Mazda North
American Operations
Susan Doniz – Aimia
Suren Dutia – Kauffman Foundation
Carol Fawcett – Quest Software
Allen Fazio – Disney Theme Parks
& Resorts
Michael Tasooji – Quiksilver
Mark Yorba – Sybron Dental
Bob Zukis – Saaskwatch Systems
CENTER FOR HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT AND POLICY BOARD MEMBERS:
Richard F. Afable, MD, MPH – Hoag
Hospital
Wendy Dorchester, PhD – Long
Beach Memorial
Terry Belmont – UCI Medical Center
Nick Franklin, JD – Public Affairs
Dimensions
Robert Beltran, MD, MBA – Citizen
Choice
Alan Hoops – Health Essentials LLC
Christine Metz – Welvie
Michael D. Stephens – Hoag Hospital
Janet Newport – Public Affairs
Dimensions
David L. Tsoong, MD – Pinnacle
Senior Care
Gordon K. Norman, MD MBA – Alere
Medical, Inc.
Betty K. Tu, MD, MBA – Pinnacle
Senior Care
Joel Portice – Intelimedix
Tammy Tucker – Anthem Blue Cross
Murray N. Ross, PhD – Kaiser
Permanente Inst for Health Policy
Bud Volberding – Avalon Healthcare
Consulting
James E. Bova –
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Patrick E. Kapsner – MemoralCare
Medical Foundation
Jay J. Cohen, MD, MBA – Monarch
HealthCare
Dale L. Macrae – Aon Consulting
Christopher H. Coulter, MD –
Precept Group
Jeanine Martin – Avanade, Inc
Elizabeth Russell – SCAN Health
Plan
Laurence D. Wellikson, MD, SFHM –
Society of Hospital Medicine
Gerald A. McCall – Kaiser
Permanente
Maribeth Shannon – California
HealthCare Foundation
Maureen L. Zehntner – UCI Medical
Center
Christopher De Rosa – West Region,
Cigna
Jeffrey H. Margolis – WellTok, Inc.
David L. Steffy
CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE BOARD MEMBERS:
Mark Kehke – DMB Pacific Ventures
Chris Phillips – Arthur J. Gallagher
Michael L. Kazemzadeh – City
National Bank
Tony Premer – Pacific Life
Insurance Company
David Kim – The Bascom Group LLC
Lee Redmond Sr. – Parker Properties
Peter and Valerie Kompaniez –
AIMCO
Christine Scheuneman – Pillsbury
Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Adam Markman – Green Street
Advisors
Royce Sharf – Studley
Ryan Gallagher – HFF
Thomas Bak – Trammell Crow
Company
John Garrett – Garrett DeFrenza
Stiepel Ryder LLC
Bill and Romy McFarlnad – The
Street Companies
Tom Sherlock – Talonvest Capital Inc.
Ken Beall – Dartbrook Partners LLC
Mike Gartlan – KB Home
Gary S. McKitterick – Allen Matkins
Phillip Belling – LBA Realty
John Simonis – Paul Hastings
Janofsky & Walker
James Gianulias – Cameo Homes
Brandon Birtcher – Goodman
Birtcher North America
Carl F. McLarland – McLarand
Vasquez Emsiek & Partners
Justin Smith – Lee & Associates
Emile Haddad – Five Point
Communities
Scott McPherson – US Bank
Robert Brunswick – Buchanan
Street Partners
Timothy Strader – Starpointe
Ventures
John Hagestad – SARES-REGIS
Group
Doug Meece – Morgan Stanley
Smith Barney
Kurt Strasmann – CB Richard Ellis
Jay Carnahan – ORION Property
Partners Inc.
William Halford – Bixby Land
Company
Greg Merage – MIG Real Estate LLC
Rebecca Hall – Idea Hall
Michael L. Meyer – Twin Rock
Partners
Gary Swon – Royal Bank of Scotland
Steve Case – Irvine Company Office
Properties
Lawrence Casey – Donahue
Schriber Realty Group
Paul O’Connor – Allen Matkins
Jeffrey Moore – CB Richard Ellis
Bobby Hatfield – First American
Title Company
Matthew Mousavi ’11 – Faris Lee
Investments
Rick Hausman – Hausman
Foundation
Douglas O’Donnell – O’Donnell
Group
Barry Hoeven – US Storage/
Westport Properties
Tom O’Rourke – Haskell & White LLP
Bill Williams – Creative Wealth
Strategies Williams Group Inc.
Gerald Pharris – CapRock Partners
Bill Wittee – Related Companies
Morgan Anderson – Arthur J.
Gallagher
Stephen Duffy – Moss-Adams
Capital LLC
Harold Andrews – Sabra Health
Care REIT Inc.
Greg Edwards – Rancho Mission
Viejo Company
Lawrence Armstrong – Ware
Malcomb
Rodney Emery – Steadfast Companies
Rudy Baldoni – Newport Investment
Associates
John French – Ernst & Young
Paul Cate – Mark IV Capital Inc.
Rachid Chamtieh – Deloitte LLP
Celina Doka – KPMG LLP
Ranney Draper – The Draper Family
Foundation
Jeff Kearns – Johnson Capital
Peter Shea – J.F. Shea
Keith Strohl – NPV Advisors
Robert Thiergartner – Davis
Partners LLC
Jim “Watty” Watson – CT Realty
Corporation
Dave Wensley – Cox Castle &
Nicholson
59
Merage |
2013 – 2014
COLLABORATION
DON BEALL CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOARD MEMBERS:
Allen Anderson – Experian
Ray Cohen – JenaValve
Richard Henson – Source Scientific
Christopher Baclawski – CB Capital
Partners
John Creelman – RainTree Oncology
Services
James Houlihan – InnoCal Venture
Capital
Marc Averitt – Okapi Venture
Capital, LLC
Bruce Feuchter – Stradling Yocca
Carlson & Rauth
Robert Hovee – RAH Consulting
Group
Don Beall – Rockwell
Jacob Levin – UC Irvine
Ken Beall – Beall Family Foundation
Neel Grover – Clearlake Capital
Management LLC
Bob Bova – Vangard Voice Systems
Ronnie Hanecak – UC Irvine
Mike Mata – Web Advanced
G.P. Li – Calit2, UCI
Goran Matijasevic – UC Irvine CEO
Roundtable
Stanton Rowe – Advanced Technologies, Edwards Lifesciences
Alan Sellers – Sail Capital Partners
Sharon Stevenson – Okapi Venture
Capital
CENTER FOR GLOBAL LEADERSHIP BOARD MEMBERS:
Management Consultants (retired)
John Belli – Ernst and Young
Alan Kaye – Mattel
John Krafcik – Hyundai Motor
America
Ed Fuller – The Group at Laguna
Leon LaPorte ’77 – US Army
(retired)
Julie Hill – WellPoint, Lend Lease,
Lord Abbett Funds
Paul Merage – Merage Investment
Group | Suncore Products
Jeff Benck – Emulex
Katherine Napier – Arbonne
International Natural Products
Group Inc.
Peter Ueberroth – The Contrarian
Group
David Pyott – Allergan
Chris White – Emerging
Technologies, Cisco Systems
Gregory Spierkel – Ingram Micro
(retired)
Jon Wampler – PacifiCare California
Nam Woo – Woo Song University
CENTER FOR INVESTMENT AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT BOARD MEMBERS:
Megan Acosta – Paul Hastings
Michael Denzinger – US Bank
Pamela M. Adams, CFP® ’98 – The
Adams Financial Group of Wells
Fargo Advisors
Kara Duckworth – DuckworthMehner Private Wealth Advisors
Laine Ainsworth – Beacon Pointe
Wealth Advisors
Lisa LaFourcade – Freeman,
Freeman & Smiley, LLP
Melissa Pollard – Comerica
Ben Lau – Iwamoto Kong
Mark Prendergast – Inspired
Financial
Michael Duckworth – DuckworthMehner Private Wealth Advisors
Jim Leese – Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo
Adam Ratner – City National Bank
Jeff Lenning – CAL Cpa
Rhonda Ducote – Iwamoto Kong
Randy Long – SageView Advisory
Group
Monica Rebella – CalCPA Orange
County/Long Beach Chapter
Brock Becker – SageView Advisory
Group
Kimberly Dwan Bernatz – First
American Trust
Connie Bell – First Republic Bank
Eric Bell – First Republic Bank
Brad Losson – Schwab
Dave Roberson – TRC Financial/The
Roberson Company
Lupe Erwin – Wood Gutman &
Bogart
Andrew Low – BNY Mellon
Mark Rooney – AXA Advisors
Todd Rustman – GR Capital
Thomas Bennett – CalCPA Orange
Shannon Eusey – Beacon Pointe
Advisors
Bill Lugaro – First American Trust
Mark Rylance – RS Crum
Jim Berens – PAAMCO
Robert Evans – Fidelity Investments
Adam MacDonald – Wells Fargo
Advisors
Charles Black – US Bank
Jim Ferruzzo – Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo
Chuck Martin – Mont Pelerin Capital
Michael Schulman – Hollencrest
Capital Management
Mary Borg – Bank of the West
Steve Freeman – K&L Gates
Erika Mayshar – Paul Hastings
Carla Furuno – City National Bank
Patrick Meegan – Hotchkis & Wiley
Mike Silane – BNY Mellon
Steve Borowski – Aristotle Capital
Management
Glenn Mehner – D&M Capital
Management
Mike Silvio – CBIZ
Carolin Botzenhard – Deutsche
Bank National Trust Company
Matt Brown – Brown & Streza
Shawnette Gauer – Charles Schwab
Advisor Services
David George – Wealth Management
Group
Jane Buchan – PAAMCO
Darin Gibson, CFP ’99 – Burnham
Financial Group/AXA Advisors
Leslie Calhoun – Optivest, Inc.
Miles Healey
Michael Cancelleri ’05 – Mont
Pelerin Capital
Mark Hebner ’89 – Index Fund
Advisors
Julie Cane – Schwab Advisor
Services
Karen Heifferon – Beacon Pointe
Advisors
Jeffrey Carlin – Nuveen Investments
Timothy Henderson – JP Morgan
Private Bank
Greg Brown – Payden Rygel
Nai Fu Chen – The Paul Merage
School of Business
Bob Cluck – Canterbury Consulting
Victoria Collins – Your Legacy Project
Matt Cooper – Beacon Pointe
Advisors
Richard Crum – RS Crum
Stewart Darrel – GenSpring Family
Offices
Peter DeGregori – Vertical Advisors,
LLP
60
Steve Henningson – SageView
Advisory Group
Mark Iwamoto – Iwamoto Kong
Andrew Jensen – Axxcess Capital,
LLC
Rick Keller – First Foundation
Advisors
Harmon Kong – Iwamoto Kong
Darcy Kopcho ’80 – Capital
Research Company
Douglas Schaaf – Paul Hastings
Richard Merage – MIG Capital
Michael Sindici – Nuveen
Investments
John Misuraca – CalCPA Orange
Patricia Soldano – GenSpring
Family Offices
Mark Moehlman – Beacon Pointe
Wealth Advisors
Tim Stinson – Fidelity Institutional
Wealth Services
JD Montgomery – Canterbury
Consulting
Robert Sullivan – Lord Abbett &
Co., LLC
Edward Mora – Bank of the West
Tyler Terry – The Waltos Group of
Northwestern Mutual
Ethan Morgan – JP Morgan Private
Bank
Jon Theriault – RS Crum
Brad Morgan – Morgan Advisory
Group
Mark Van Mourick – Optivest
Jayson Morgan – Marcum LLP
Brian Whitmore – Succession
Capital
Julian Movsesian – Succession
Capital
Joe Volz – Merrill Lynch
Jennifer Williams – Merrill Lynch
Chad Neault – Knightsbridge Asset
Management, LLC
Zachary Yaklin – Deutsche Bank
National Trust Company
Brenda O’Leary – Payden & Rygel
Joe Yerosek – Comerica
Jim Olmore – Fidelity Investments
David Young ’90 – Anfield Capital
Management
Gregory Pellizzon – Hollencrest
Capital Management
Gary Polich – Marcum LLP
Evelyn Zohlen – Inspired Financial
Thank You!
Dean Andy Policano – A Celebration of Accomplishments
Andy Policano arrived as Dean at UC Irvine’s Graduate School of Management in 2004 with several goals. Through his tireless
dedication to program improvements, faculty recruitment and support, long-term infrastructure development, fundraising
and community relations, he surpassed expectations and created a lasting bond between The Paul Merage School of Business,
the University and the business community, both locally and beyond.
As Dean Policano moves to the next chapter in his career as the Dean’s Leadership Circle endowed professor and the
academic director of the Center for Investment and Wealth Management here at the Merage School, we celebrate the major
milestones he has achieved during his tenure.
2013
School breaks ground on new 78,000 square foot building
Master of Science in Biotechnology Management is launched
Master of Professional
Accountancy is launched
2012
School Endowment Fund
tops $25 million
2011
JD/MBA joint degree introduced
School Endowment Fund tops $20 million
Policano is inducted into the
PhD Project Hall of Fame
2010
2009
2008
Undergraduate Business Major introduced
2007
Inaugural class of the Bachelor of
Arts in Business major graduates
Master of Science in Engineering
Management (MSEM) joint degree
introduced
Center for Digital Transformation is
launched
Dean Andrew J. Policano chairs
AACSB, the top international
accreditation organization
for business schools
John S. and Marilyn Long Institute
for U.S.-China Business and Law is
launched with $2.5 million gift from
the Long Family Foundation
Center for Health Care Management and Policy is
launched
School Endowment Fund tops $15 million
2006
Center for
Real Estate
is launched
2005
Andrew J. Policano named Dean
Alumni number tops 5,000
School Endowment Fund reaches
$5 million
2004
Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
named after Don Beall Family Foundation gift of $6.6
million
School celebrates $30 million gift from
the Paul Merage Family Foundation and
changes name to The Paul Merage
School of Business
Center for Investment and Wealth
Management is launched
Dean’s Leadership Circle initiated by alumni
and the business community
We thank you, Andy, for all that you have done for The Paul Merage School of Business. Your accomplishments have taken
us to new heights and will leave a lasting impact on our future. We look forward to many more years of your involvement,
motivation and inspiration.
61
Merage |
2013 – 2014
COLLABORATION
Dean’s Leadership Circle
The Value of a Strong Network
CREATING A COMMUNITY of like-minded business leaders who are personally invested in the Merage School’s
reputation, and leveraging the vast business network
available, is what the Dean’s Leadership Circle (DLC) is
all about. And they’ve gained quite a following.
“It’s becoming clear to all that the value of the DLC is
reflected in the reputation,” said Sandra Findly, senior
director of Development. “The success of our alumni
business leaders and the satisfaction of their experience
here at the Merage School impacts our rankings, and the
DLC plays a vital role in facilitating that impact. It’s a
network that benefits us all.”
Along the way, the DLC has successfully developed
hundreds of relationships and provided major advancements benefiting both the School and surrounding community and business partners.
“This past year, thanks to the dedication of the DLC
Advisory Board, led by current chair Ken Neeld, EMBA
’07, along with Programming Chair, Paige Cotcamp, MBA
’84, and Value Added Programs Chair, Darren Whissen,
MBA ’02, who focused on providing value and personal
interaction, we held a record 34 events!” said Findly, who
oversees the Dean’s Leadership Circle. “Many of those
events were small, eight-person group lunches featuring
a guest of honor that included faculty members such
as Judy Rosener, Jone Pearce, Paul Feldstein and Lyman
Porter. We also continued with our industry focused
group meetings hosted by our members and sponsored
by their companies including Microsoft, CB Richard Ellis,
Brasstech, InVision and the Orange County Great Park.”
Completely new this year was the creation of New
Member Orientations, which were hosted by DLC Founding
Chair Pamela Adams, EMBA ‘98, at her Wells Fargo office
in Newport Beach. These meetings helped new members
understand the mission, history and goals of the Dean’s
Leadership Circle. Participants also took part in a small
networking reception to meet other new members.
Another of the event highlights was the DLC’s Insider’s
View held this past fall at the beautiful Newport Coast
home of Beau, FEMBA ’06, and Sanam Pirghibi. “We
had about 80 members attend. It was the perfect setting
for then Dean Policano to unveil the new business building’s architectural renderings, including the 300-seat
auditorium for which each seat will be named for a DLC
member,” said Findly.
The End of Year Holiday
Celebration, which has
become the DLC’s signature event, took place at
the Lyon Air Museum with
a full 27-member swing
band and silent auction that
allowed for 220 members
Carla Neeld UCI ’05 and Sue Padto celebrate and enjoy each ernacht at the Lyon Air Museum.
other’s company.
The Dean’s Leadership Circle was launched in 2005
in conjunction with the $30 million name gift to UC
Irvine’s business school from Paul and Lilly Merage. It
was designed to engage alumni and business leaders in
a closer relationship with the Merage School with a mission to advance the Merage School as a top-tier business
school. For membership information and details on this
year’s upcoming events, please contact Sandra Findly at
949.824.8880 or visit merage.uci.edu/go/DLC.
2012-2013 Dean’s Leadership Circle
VISIONARY
Pamela Adams, CFP® ’98
Michael ’88 & Elizabeth
Aghajanian
Len ’02 & Linda Ambrosini
Thomas ’05 & Emmy Antunez
Richard Baldwin ’12
Harry & Melissa ’12 Beck
John Belli
Brent ’98 & Cindy Brewer
Tim Cannon ’07 & Juliette
Meunier
William E. Leveson-Gower ’09
62
Irvine Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors
David Jones ’93
John & Sandra Kompaniez
Greg ’88 & Cindy Lai UCI ’92
Mark ’84 & Lisa Locklear ’84
Darren McCall ’10
Kristen Monson ’86
Paula Milano ’80 & Eric Nielsen
Ken Neeld ’07 & Carla Neeld
UCI ’05
Beau ’06 & Sanam Pirghibi
Andrew J. & Pamela Z. Policano
Charles & Sara ’84 Rollins
Bill Rowland ’06
Reza Sabahi ’09
Isabel Satra ’02
Jasmine Shodja ’01
Eric ’12 & Tera-Ann Smart
John Waldeck ’01
David Young ’90 & Sandy Young
UCI ’82
LEGACY SEAT HOLDERS
Lisa & Laine Ainsworth
Drew Aron ’98
Katie Bianchi ’96
Keith ’96 & Michelle Boothroyd
Sean ’91 & Mary Bradley
Geoffrey ’05 & Tracy Bremmer ’05
Avinash Chainani FEMBA 2015
Candidate
Christen Chambers ’05
Bradley Coburn ’13
Dan ’92 & Jennifer Coffman
Paige Cotcamp ’84
Peter ’82 & Susan Cullen
Al ’79 & Susan Degrassi
Kristen McAlister Donaldson ’03
Andy ’04 & Lisa Fan
Nina Faustino ’09
Noah Garrett ’08
Jason Green ’08
Professor Vijay Gurbaxani
Timothy ’84 & Amy Guth UCI ’80
Nina Hajjar
David Hayes UCI ’79
Rob Henderson ’07
Rodney Hill Family
Vicki Hines ’77
Lucy Huang ’13
Brian Humenesky ’06
Bill & Marilyn Humes
Garrison Jaquess
Glen Kauffman ’94
Timothy J. and Marianne Kay
Zsolt Kiraly ’08
Michelle Koontz ’03
Tom Kozicki
Selva Kulasingam ’07
Vincent Kung ’07
Will Kuo, FEMBA ’15 Candidate
Robert & Lisa Lambert
Professor Leonard & Christel Lane
Christopher ’11 & Lindsay
Lawrence ’11
Jennifer Leuer ’04
Marc Levin
Timothy Leyden ’92
Channing & Erin Lindsay
Sally Lu BA ’13
Barbra Marangell ’08
Richard & Laura Mather ’12
Richard Milo ’96
Dr. Michael Miyamoto ’12
Johnny Mosham
Rashad ’04 & Jennifer
Moumneh ’04
Matthew Mousavi ’11
Carl Neisser
Jem ’01 & Hanh Nguyen
Sue Padernacht
Jim Pavelko
Professor Mort & Mary Pincus
Professor Emeritus Lyman &
Meredith Porter
Michael Pressman ’08
Greg ’03 & Nicole Queen
Lisa Dawn Reyer ’94
Steve Rhee ’94
Sanam and Beau ’06 Pirghibi
Colton Riley ’13 & Rachel
Mulkerin
Nira Kozak Roston & Daniel
Roston ‘89
Diane Sagey ‘99
Salvador & Dessi Sarabosing
Kane Shieh ‘05
Mitchell & Maureen Spann
Michael Tannourji ’89
Dr. Tewari ‘93 & Nita Tewari
Professor Kerry Vandell
Kyle van Hoften ‘97
Tom Wagner ‘89
Darren ’02 & Dao Whissen ‘01
Scott Maison & Tiffany Wilson ‘07
Jennifer Wong ‘08
Perry Yeh ‘08
Timothy C. Zevnik ’93
Coni Zingarelli ’08
ANNUAL MEMBERS
Christopher R. Abbamonto ’09
Gary Abraham ’94
Robert Arvizu ’11
Marco Baltero ’07
Dawn Beattie ’92
Ali Beydoun ’09
Rafael Buitrago ’01
Theron ’93 & Beverly Renee
Chaney UCI ’80
Jeffrey Chen ’06
Eugene ’01 & Carol Choi UCI ’85
Antony ’01 & Christina Clarke
Christopher Cook, Jr. ’06
Joe Corigliano ’01
Chris Davenport ’05
James Elliott ’00
Larry Engwall ’87
Lupe Erwin
Steven Fichtelberg ’93
Ed Fuller
Kenneth Gibson
Michael ’84 & Kimberly Hansen
Hao Tang ’10
Thomas ’01 & Denise Hartline
Eric ’07 & April Henrickson
Joshua Katz ’01
Alan Kaye
Professor Robin Keller & Dr.
Henry McMillan
John Lambert ’83
Leon LaPorte ’77
Samara Larson ’08
Peter & Anne Leets
Angelo Lombardo ’00
Ulysses Lopez
Casey Lubin UCI ’07
Alexei MacPherson
Kumar Mangalick ’05
Jon Masciana ’06
Laura Mather ’12
Patrick ’97 & Cindi McGaughan
Lora McPhail ’12 & Mark
Deischter
Benjamin ’06 & Amme Medvitz
Mark L. Moehlman
Robert Peirson ’84
Derek & Kelly Poirier
Britta Kvinge Pulliam
Rick Rayson
Monica Rebella
Stephen Rodriguez ’98 &
Professor Ellen R. M. Druffel
Professor Emerita Judy B.
Rosener
Dr. Bijan Sadri, MD ’08
James J. Scheinkman
David Schramm
Craig Shugert ’93
Ariela Tannenbaum ’95
Kathryn ‘08 & Scott Taylor
Dr. Devansu Tewari, HCEMBA ’14
Candidate
Todd Tripp
Edward ’94 & Patricia Uy ’94
Lucy Vernon ’07
Joseph Volz UCI ’95
Jay Witzling ’79
SHAREHOLDER
Iyad Afalqa ’12
Pallavi Agarwal ’13
Omid Akbari ’13
Caesar Armenta ’12
Matt Baldy ’11
Kimberly Banks ’13
Mark Boll ’11
Kathleen Boyle ’11
Alison Brown ’11
David L. Bryant ’11
Sudipta Burman ’12
Rachel Chen ’13
Former Dean Andy Policano with the DLC Advisory board: Paula Milano ’80,
Paige Cotcamp ’84 (back), Greg Queen ’03, Pam Adams ’98 and Ken Neeld ’07
Yifei Chen ’13 & Jay Wang, MBA
’15 Candidate
Ben Cherian ’11
Eddie Chow ’13
Penny Cotner ’12
Niki Esfahani ’11
Brandon Flanders ’12
Sarah Gibb ’12
Barbara Gregson ’13
Buu Han ’13
Sameer Hansen, FEMBA ’15
Candidate
Kristian Hermansen ’11
Corey Katouli ’12
Tom Ko ’11
Aaron Levin, BA ’12
Terese Marcotte ’13
Margo McEntee, BA ’13
Michael McLean ’11
Lora C. McPhail ’11
Alison Mijares ’11
Ramin Mousavi ’11
Dr. Ajanta Naidu ’11
Dr. Andreea Nanci ’13
Reena Pal ’11
Greg Palavivatana ’11
Ruben Pedroza ’13
Mark Phillips ’13
Jennifer Poley ’11
Jin Puertollano BA ’12
Scott Puff ’12
Sarah Ramsey ’11
Karl Rebay ’11
Chris Rogers ’12
Matthew Romey ’13
Matthieu Roussillon ’13 &
Jennifer Roussillon, FEMBA ’14
Candidate
Sandhya Rudraraju ’12
Timon Safaie ’12
Saroja Singitam ’13
Tammy Spencer Prizio ’11
Theresa Suppanade ’11
David Toung ’11
Allen Wu ’12
Danny Yao ’12
Carine Ye, MBA ’14 Candidate
Brian Yoo ’13
John Yoo ’13
Donors listed based on pledges
in fiscal year 2012-2013.
Steve Richards and Greg Lai ’88
63
Merage |
2013 – 2014
ALUMNI NEWS
Merageville
Alumni Reunion
May 4, 2013
64
experience ALUMNI NEWS
ALUMNI NEWS
MERAGE SCHOOL ALUMNI from years ending in 3 and 8 and all PhDs were invited to return to campus to renew old friendships and create new ones. The PhD group included a special gathering from the “Porter Years.” Lyman Porter was dean
of the Graduate School of Administration and the Graduate School of Management from 1972 to 1983 and is beloved by
many who were influenced by him during his tenure.
In all, nearly 200 guests returned to campus for the reunion. Many reminisced and enjoyed margaritas and good food
courtesy of the Merage School’s own Johnny Mosham, who has been serving guests at the Merage School for more than
20 years. The resort-like setting, complete with tropical décor and guests in their finest leis and island wear, served as the
backdrop, as the back patio of the Merage School building was transformed by tiki huts and bright colors. Live Calypso
music set the tone as guests mingled and reminisced. Children enjoyed the kids’ activity room full of games and crafts.
See more photos at merage.uci.edu/go/merageville.
65
Merage |
2013 – 2014
ALUMNI NEWS
ALUMNI BUSINESSES
From Gears and Beers to Engineers
For This Alum, It’s Full Pspeed Ahead
by Jessica Jorgenson
If you walk into a new spin studio
on 17th Street in Costa Mesa which
opened earlier this year, you might just
be greeted by an MIT engineer/Merage
School MBA graduate working the front
desk.
And it’s not because he needed a
Paul Harmeling
MBA ’05
job. Turns out, Paul Harmeling, MBA
’05, not only co-founded the new studio called FULL PSYCLE, but also serves as its president.
Not your typical spin studio, the new eco-friendly shop
utilizes re-purposed materials and lighting, and features
Schwinn AC performance bikes fully-loaded with Schwinn’s MPower consoles that measure power, RPMs,
speed, time and distance.
“Walking into the cycle room, also known as ‘The
Asylum,’ I instantly felt inspired,” said cyclist Jessica
Jorgenson, FEMBA ’06. “During class, I felt challenged.
After the 45 minute class, I felt transformed.”
“What sets FULL PSYCLE apart from other indoor cycling studios is our competitive dynamic,” said Harmeling. “Our studio features two 50” flat screens which
project, in real time, the power, RPMs and energy each
66
cyclist is generating. This provides the opportunity for
participants to both compete against each other and
work as a team to achieve group-oriented goals. And
whether people are working to beat their neighbors, or
working in tandem with them, this raises their sense of
competition and accountability, and that edge is what
makes people work harder and achieve more than they
ever have in any other group exercise environment.”
FULL PSYCLE’s workouts incorporate standard indoor
cycling routines with upper body strength training. “Our
workouts are designed to enable you to burn massive
calories, tone your upper body and have a really, really
good time doing it,” commented Harmeling.
And it doesn’t end there. At the conclusion of the
class, FULL PSYCLE emails its “psyclers” their individual
statistics from each class. Those stats are also saved in
each member’s online accounts on a class-by-class basis, which allows for progress tracking, goal-setting and
goal achievement.
FULL PSYCLE is Orange County’s first and only fullbody cycling studio and its prescient use of technology is
no doubt what one would expect from an MIT engineer/
Merage School MBA.
“The only thing stationary about this busi-
ness is FULL PSYCLE’s bikes,” said Jorgenson. “I fully
expect Paul and his crew to push forward, break away
from the pack and dominate the indoor cycling studio
market.”
Engineer2 + MBA2 ,QQRYDWLRQ
What happens when two engineers
meet during an MBA program at the
Merage School? You get an innovative
business creation team with a passion
for math, science, and education.
Corey Katouli and Timon Safaie, both
from the 2012 FEMBA class, met at the Corey Katouli
Merage School and are now on the verge FEMBA ‘12
of launching a new company which
they hope will revolutionize the way we
think of and approach education.
Their new venture, Demonstranda, is
an online social platform designed to
allow students and educators to engage
one another and encourage the sharing
Timon Safaie
of ideas and insights. This platform
FEMBA ‘12
combines the power of social networking with a unique technology, called MathMatix, which
enables students to better communicate on subjects
related, but not limited, to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
“The idea came to us out of necessity during our stint
as graduate students,” said Corey Katouli, co-founder
and CEO of Demonstranda. “Technology has transformed
the way in which individuals study, research, deliver and
receive
content. Our
platform
and patent
pending
technology,
MathMatix,
provide an
easy, intuitive way for
students
to discuss
math related
problems
electronically.”
Take, for
example, users on platforms such
as Google+
who are
submitting
Figure 1: A post on Google+
daily posts
Figure 2: The same equation on Demonstranda’s platform
on homework related problems. As seen in Figure 1, due
to the lack of appropriate technology on these platforms,
users must reluctantly use rather archaic methods of
communicating mathematics. You can see that user one
must resort to typing z(-1) to denote z-1 and in response
user two must use similar conventions to communicate
their answer. By using MathMatix on Demonstranda’s
social network platform, these same users could have
correctly typeset these equations so that it makes it
easier for the reader to understand what is going on (see
Figure 2). Mathematics is a challenging subject on its
own; when learning math one should focus more on the
concepts at hand as opposed
to trying to reinterpret the
text. Demonstranda allows for
such transformation. Users on Demonstranda’s platform
can focus on the math instead of typing the math or figuring out how to read the math.
Current online technologies for typing math are codebased and difficult to use for the non-purest (i.e. the 99.9
percent of online users who are not mathematicians,
physicists, etc. and who think that hard-coding math
is cool) as they lack a user interface (UI) that makes
constructing complex equations more time consuming
and prone to errors. Figure 3 gives a nice comparison
between the current online standard, LaTeX (used by
Wikipedia, Quora, and Stack Exchange), and MathMatix
(exclusive to Demonstranda).
Figure 3: Differences between the LaTeX and Mathmatix standards
Once launched, Katouli and Safaie expect the Demonstranda platform will expand to support discussion
topics related to history, English and sociology as well.
Learn more about Demonstranda at demonstranda.com
or contact [email protected].
67
Merage |
2013 – 2014
ALUMNI NEWS
Spirit of Success is Alive and Well Among
Merage School Alumni
Last year we introduced you to Stack Wines, an innovative new company that is revolutionizing how wine is
consumed. This year we’re highlighting Rough Draft Brewing Company, a new craft brewery staking its claim in San
Diego. It seems many of our Merage School alumni are
enjoying the “spirit” of success.
Launched just over a year ago, in March 2012, Rough
Draft Brewing Company is the result of the combined efforts of Jeff
Silver, FEMBA ’02, a whole slew of
FEMBA ’03s including Brian Adams,
Christy Hart Adams, Bryan Graves,
Kevin Matchett, Chris Silver and Scott
Theodorson, plus Paige Graves, FEMBA
Jeff Silver
’08. Together, this group of graduates
FEMBA ‘02
is a “hopping” success.
The doors to Rough Draft Brewing Company opened
March 10, 2012, with a launch party that included a beer
tasting of some of its latest creations, or “rough drafts.”
“We’re different than other breweries,” said Silver, “We
are experimenting with different ideas and creating what
our customers want to drink. Our Tasting Room is the
place where we decide what to bottle and what to distribute based on what our customers like. We don’t take
ourselves too seriously. It’s just beer after all.”
Rough Draft’s Hop Therapy Double IPA and Barrel-aged
Emboozlement Tripel have proven to be best sellers, also
winning Gold and Silver respectively at the 2013 L.A. International Beer Competition. With ten or more brews on
tap, or in the cask, at any given
time, there’s always something to try. From Freudian Sip
Strong Ale to Belgian-style Vanilla Stout to its session-style
Weekday IPA, Rough Draft has
created a lot to like in only a
year’s time.
Silver, who was a homebrewer for nearly 20 years,
was originally on track for a
career in finance and insurance, which he pursued upon
completion of his MBA at the
Merage School. But his passion for crafting good beer is
where he, his wife, and several
of their classmates are finding
success. “I’d win homebrew
competitions, and people really liked what I brewed. It was
just a matter of time before we
could take the leap and build
this business.”
68
Relationships are important at Rough Draft, and the
Merage School proved to be fertile ground for finding
partners for this venture. “We needed more than investment dollars. We wanted our friends to be involved in a
way that would benefit everyone,” said Silver. “Luckily, we
had a strong group of friends from the MBA program who
‘spoke the same language’ as us, who we could trust, and
who would know a good opportunity when it came their
way.”
Rough Draft’s
We needed more than
partners do a
lot more than
investment dollars. We
provide insight
at quarterly
wanted our friends to be
meetings.
“They are
involved in a way that
amazing. They
would benefit everyone.
serve beer in
the Tasting
Luckily, we had a strong
Room, represent us at
group of friends from the
festivals, help
with marketing,
MBA program who ‘spoke
clean floors,
the same language’ as us,
and even scrub
bathrooms,”
who we could trust, and
said Silver.
“Of course,
who would know a good
they also get
to sample
opportunity when it came
the beer from
their way.”
time to time
and that helps
make it all
worth it,” he jokes. “In truth, the partnership is very
strong. I’m grateful for their time and experience, and
they respect the vision I have for the Brewery and believe
in my ability to lead.”
“
”
Silver utilized his business acumen to create what
today is a thriving new company. Located in San Diego,
Rough Draft Brewing Company features a modern 1,500
square foot tasting room complete with a 50-foot tasting
bar, a barrel-aging area and a 4,000 square foot brewhouse. Already equipped with a 15-barrel system, Silver
and partners are looking forward to expanding capacity
with the addition of more fermenters and barrels.
San Diego’s craft beer market is booming. “Demand
is high for our product, and not just locally. Our distribution grows by the day throughout southern California and
Arizona. We need the space and equipment to brew more
beer,” said Silver. Rough Draft and its partners are in it
for the long-haul.
Class Notes
2012-2013
’96
KATIE (KOEHLER) BIANCHI,
FEMBA ’96, is now the chief Human
Resources officer for Advantage Sales and
Marketing. She joined ASM in December 2012 after more than 16 years with
Marriott International. She is responsible
for all HR related functions for this $1.5
billion company based in Irvine, with
operations in all 50 states, Canada and
Puerto Rico.
’97
DR. ALLAN BERNSTEIN,
HCEMBA ’97, was recently elected to
the Tustin City Council. He is a board
certified foot and ankle surgeon and
also runs ethnicitee.com, a clothing line
designed to celebrate cultural similarities
and differences.
ALFRED RICCI, MBA ’97, recently
formed Solace, Inc., a “self-help”
company offering live and on-demand
products, as well as personal counseling.
Alfred summarizes his new path: “I came
from a horrible family situation and
still far surpassed every goal I ever set.
My meaning in life is to give others this
opportunity, no matter what your back-
With all of their
success, these
Merage School
alums have not
forgotten their
roots. In fact, they
regularly deliver their product to the Anthill Pub on the
UC Irvine campus, along with other Orange County locations like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Total Wine and Haven.
Silver says, “If we’re not already where you like to drink
or shop, ask for Rough Draft.”
To learn more about Rough Draft Brewing Company, follow them on Facebook and @RoughDraftBrew on Twitter,
and visit roughdraftbrew.com.
ground. With just a little ‘guidance’, you
too can be immensely happy knowing
you’re following your life’s purpose.”
’98
DR. FELIX YIP, HCEMBA ’98,
was appointed to be a member of the
Medical Board of California by Governor
Jerry Brown. He is a urologist in private
practice in the Monterey Park and Los
Angeles areas, and also serves as a clinical professor of Urology at USC’s Keck
School of Medicine.
’00
BRYAN MACQUARRIE, MBA ’00,
has launched Q Sufficit after more than a
dozen years outsourcing accounting and
administration to large companies. The
firm specializes in outsourcing and advisory to smaller and mid-market firms.
“The big outsourcing firms are driven
by scale, not by service. We deliver far
more than they can through long-term
relationships with our clients,” he says.
RICK SCRIMGER, FEMBA ’00,
was recently named president of Roland
DGA Corp., which announced major
changes to its executive management
team, including the promotion of the
company’s current president to an
expanded international role with parent
company Roland DG of Hamamatsu,
Japan. Rick was formerly vice president
of sales and marketing.
PHILIP ALLEGA, EMBA ’00, writes
that “after another year in London, we’re
stuck into house ownership and are well
and truly ensconced here this time – no
fooling!”
’02
SHEILA SMITH-YOON, FEMBA
’02, earned her Project Management
Professional certification, and was
promoted to senior professional services
consultant at Mitchell International.
ERIC KIM, MBA ’02, recently
moved to Korea and started working for
Coupang.com, Korea’s fastest growing
internet/e-commerce website.
JEFF SILVER, FEMBA ’02, is the president and founder of Rough Draft Brewing Co., a company started one year ago
with fellow alumni BRIAN ADAMS,
FEMBA ’03; CHRISTY HART ADAMS, FEMBA ’03; BRYAN GRAVES,
FEMBA ’03; PAIGE GRAVES, FEMBA
’08; KEVIN MATCHETT, FEMBA
’03; CHRIS SILVER, FEMBA ’03 and
SCOTT THEODORSON, FEMBA
’03. The beer can be found at Anthill Pub
on campus, and be purchased in bottles
at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Total Wine and
good beer bars in southern California (see
story on page 68).
’03
KEVIN TROUT, FEMBA ’03, has
decided to apply his business skills in the
69
Merage |
2013 – 2014
ALUMNI NEWS
non-profit sector. He has been pursuing
a graduate degree in Social Work from
California State University, Northridge.
Recently he left his position selling high
tech equipment to become a manager at
the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse
and Neglect at UCI. He plans to apply
his skills to keep seniors safe.
KRISTEN MCALISTER, FEMBA
’03, and husband Michael Donaldson
celebrated the birth of their son Cole
William Donaldson in December 2012.
MARNIE O’BRIEN PRIMMER,
FEMBA ’03, was recently named on
OC Metro’s list of “20 Women to Watch.”
She was honored for her work as executive director of Mobility 21, a coalition
that brings together public, business
and community stakeholders to address
regional transportation issues.
’04
ARAS BASKAUSKAS, MBA ’04,
was featured in a Daily Pilot article that
discusses his life after winning “Survivor”
and his new album release.
RASHAD MOUMNEH, MBA ’04,
and JENNIFER MOUMNEH, MBA
’04, celebrated the birth of their son
Naseem Rashad Moumneh in April
2013. “He will be a future Merage
School student! With the exception of
very little sleep, all are doing well and we
couldn’t be happier,” says dad.
’05
CHRISTEN CHAMBERS, MBA ’05,
vice president of Digital Media for
the Fox Networks Group, was selected
“Mentor of the Year,” by the Merage
School for her part in the Center for
Global Leadership’s Executive Mentoring
Program. She was selected from a group
of more than 125 one-to-one mentors
who gave their time and business acumen
to advise and encourage more than 170
MBA students over the course of the
academic year.
’06
DEBBIE MOYSYCHYN, EMBA ’06,
Brandman University’s director of health
70
& wellness, was nominated for the 2012
Women in Business Award given by the
Orange County Business Journal (OCBJ).
This award acknowledges successful business women who have made an impact
professionally as well as throughout their
communities.
’07
MARISA TATHAKOOL LEE,
FEMBA ’07, started working at Google
in Mountain View as a finance manager in December 2011. Previously she
worked in IT consulting for Hitachi
Consulting. “I’m very delighted to be
traveling less since I also welcomed my
first child, Graham Vincent Lee, in June
2012. He was 6 pounds, 5 ounces and
20 inches,” she says.
KEN NEELD, EMBA ’07, and his
company Delphi Display Systems Inc.,
were recently featured in an Orange
County Business Journal article about the
digital trend reaching restaurants’ menu
boards.
DAVID NANIGIAN, MBA ’07, was
promoted from assistant to associate
professor of investments at The American
College.
TIFFANY WILSON, MBA ’07, and
husband Scott are happy to announce
the birth of their son Miles in March
2013.
’08
CANAAN CROUCH, FEMBA ’08,
has joined SullivanCurtisMonroe as
vice president. He will focus on being
a practice leader in the Environmental,
Chemical and Energy areas.
ALAN VELASCO, FEMBA ’08, is a
third-year law student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and the
president of the Student Bar Association.
He spent last summer working at the
firm of Mayer Brown in their Chicago
office, where he will be working after taking the bar exam.
JENNIFER WONG, FEMBA ’08,
a program manager with Boeing, was
recently named to Aviation Week’s “40
Under 40” list. She was nominated by
Boeing’s senior management team.
BILL RYAN, FEMBA ’08, is the new
director of client relation services in UC’s
Office of the Treasurer. In this role, he’ll
develop internal and external strategies
and programs for building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders
including The Regents, UC Foundations,
faculty and administration, retirees,
and the general public. He’ll also serve
as marketing director for the UC Core
Funds, a group of proprietary funds
available within the UC Retirement Savings Program.
CHRIS MEYER, EMBA ’08, and
his company, Orange County’s Expedia
Cruise Ship Center, were recognized in
November 2012 as the top new location
in the United States at Expedia’s annual
national conference. The Laguna Hills
center, the first in southern California,
generated more than $1.2 million in
bookings in its first 10 months of operation.
’09
REZA SABAHI, FEMBA ’09, has
been promoted to director, Syndicated
Finance Division at Wells Fargo Capital
Finance. In his new role, Reza will assume the administrative responsibilities
for a team of leveraged finance professionals managing a portfolio of over
$3.0B in secured debt. Additionally, he
will be relocating from Charlotte, NC to
Santa Monica, CA.
’10
LUKE PHAIR, FEMBA ’10, and his
company Falcon Fuels Inc. needed assistance with a web presence, and worked
with STEVE HUANG, FEMBA ’08,
and his company CSC Digital Graphics,
a marketing firm. Together they created
a new online identity for Falcon Fuels,
including a logo and website.
KATIE STEELE ELLIS, FEMBA ’10,
was honored as one of OC Metro’s “40
Under 40” for her work as executive director of Opus Community Foundation.
INNOVATION
’11
VANESSA VALDEZ, EMBA ’11,
was recently hired by Rapid Legal to
serve as their vice president of Marketing. “While I was in the program, I was
a director and one of the youngest in the
class. Now, at 33 and post-MBA, I was
able to secure my first executive position,
which I feel is partially as a result of earning my graduate degree,” she says.
DOUGLAS ALLAN, MBA ’11, JODI
WYNN, FEMBA ’11, and MATT
ZIMMER, FEMBA ’11, and their
company Stack Wines, were recently
featured on the “Today Show” and ABC’s
“The Chew.”
KRISTIAN ERIK HERMANSEN,
FEMBA ’11, joins Irvine-based Proficio
as director of Security Operations.
Proficio is a leader in technology services,
specializing in both security and networking. New cutting-edge services like
ProSOC monitor for corporate network
attacks and identify hackers before they
harm business operations.
RAMIN MOUSAVI, FEMBA ’11, has
been promoted to strategy manager at
Edwards Lifesciences. In this role, Ramin
will be responsible for the Advanced
Monitoring strategy and execution as
well as Critical Care market intelligence.
He will lead strategic and disciplined execution, and will partner with Advanced
Monitoring Global Marketing, Regional
Marketing and R&D organizations to
lead management processes. He will
continue to be responsible for Critical
Care global market intelligence efforts
including competitive intelligence,
market research and Voice of Customer
activities.
MATT ZIMMER, FEMBA ’11, was
honored as one of OC Metro’s “40 Under
40” for his work as CEO of Stack Wines.
MATTHEW MOUSAVI, FEMBA
’11, was recently honored as a Top Sales
Broker in CoStar Group’s Power Broker
Program and was named a “Star to
Watch 2013” by the publication, Commercial Property Executive.
’12
OFER MINTZ, PHD ’12,
an assistant marketing professor at
Louisiana State University, was recently
featured in The Times of Israel newspaper
about a course he taught in spring 2013
in Israel. The course showed it doesn’t
take a lot of money to run an effective
online marketing campaign, and his students strategically used Google Adwords
keywords and participated in the Google
Online Marketing Challenge to much
success. “It has been great to receive a
couple of emails from businesses wanting
to hire my students,” he says.
ALINA JIWANI, FEMBA ’12, and
ANDREA QUINTERO, MBA ’13,
have launched ALINADREA.com,
a women’s fashion accessories online
boutique. The concept is to source
fashion accessories from all over the
world and give U.S. customers the access
to buy these exclusive products online,
providing customers with a virtual shopping journey to far-reaching places and
cultures.
’13
JEFF FRENKEN, FEMBA ’13,
has been hired as a business data analyst
at Jack In The Box. In his new role he
is implementing the consumer behavior
and data mining skills he learned while at
the Merage School to understand complex business operations and marketing
challenges. He says he made a career shift
from finance and real estate to data science due to the exposure and education
obtained in the FEMBA program.
Merage Alumni Network:
Promote your Business on
the Alumni Marketplace!
MELISSA BECK, EMBA ’12, has
been selected as the new chief executive officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Orange County. She previously served
as chief operating officer of the organization, where she played an integral role
in the day-to-day operations and in the
growth of programs in Orange County
and a recent expansion into the Inland
Empire. In her new role, she will be
responsible for all operations in Orange
County and will also have oversight
responsibilities for the Inland Empire.
The Merage School Alumni Marketplace
features special offers on products and
services from alumni and their companies
to members of the Merage Alumni Network. If you own and/or operate your own
company, or have the authority to provide
special offers on your company’s products
and services, you may submit your organization to the Marketplace. Certain conditions
apply. Learn more at merage.uci.edu/go/
marketplace.
MICHAEL MIYAMOTO, HCEMBA
’12, a Mission Viejo cardiologist, was
recently featured in the Orange County
Register for his examination of dozens
of Egyptian mummies, and finding
that a large proportion of them showed
evidence of atherosclerosis – hardening
of the arteries.
For information about upcoming networking
opportunities visit merage.uci.edu/go/Alumni
or follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
UCIrvineMBA
linkd.in/a3cyff
ucimeragealum
KOUROSH PARSAPOUR, BILL
SPATH and MANDEEP BRAHMBHATT, all HCEMBA ’12s, had their
company, 5plus, a startup working on
building digital health physical therapy
tools, featured in MobiHealthNews.
71
Merage |
2013 – 2014
ALUMNI NEWS
Thank you for supporting the Merage School Fund 2012-2013
Akindamola Akinola ’11
Simon Asraf ’12
Jeffrey Barkehanai ’05
Barkehanai-Olson Family Trust
Christopher Barra ’10
Kristin Ann Clarke Batoy ’96
Michael Becker ’97
Gretchen Bender ’08
Katherine Benderev ’93
Jeffrey K. Barkehanai ’05
Jennifer Bernabei ’91
Blake Timothy Barnett
Michael Bernstein ’84
David Berwick ’02
Rajarama Bhagwat ’97
Miguel Blass ’07
Gregg Boehm ’06
Robert Bonkowski ’96
Sean ’91 & Mary Bradley
Allyson Stafford Brown ’97
Scott Carnahan ’82
Chia-I Chang ’10
Jeffrey Chen ’06
Kenneth Chew
Derrick Derning Chiang ’06
Janet Chiu ’05
Paul Cho ’09
Kristin Clarke Batoy ’96
Jody Cruzan ’08
Barbara Currie ’92
Loan Dao ’00
Christopher Alan Dickson ’11
Anthony DiCostanzo ’00
Lisa Dolan ’04
Edison International Foundation
Barbara Endo ’97
Peter Feher ’06
Marcus Gee ’11
Nelson Gibbs ’00
Daniel Hammond ’00
Syed Yasir Hassan ’10
Scott Hatakeyama ’07
Talia Hight ’12
David W. Hoffman ’87
Steven Hogan ’80
Julie Holdaway ’94
Deborah Holmgren ’98
Michael Lung-Chih Huang ’09
Thomas Hughes ’09
IBM International Foundation
Cathy Imai ’01
Stephen Imsen ’76
Kyle George Jung ’06
George Kessinger ’87
Daniel Il-Sun Kim ’05
Kingston Technology Company
Stefan Kokolios ’07
Raymond Komar ’96
Jackson Ku ’01
Henry Chin Lee ’07
Lin Leng ’04
Yi Li ’07
Randall Libunao ’10
Tony Lieu ’11
Wayne Liu ’09
Tina Lodovico ’11
Sally Lu BA ’13
Lorry Lynn ’99
Kenneth MacAlpine ’04
Polly Madsen
Chirag Mapara ’06
Thomas Mason ’86
Scott Matthews ’10
Kip McGuire ’06
Lora McPhail ’12
Joanie Yamashita Murakami
Ethan Namvar ’03
David Nanigian ’07
Loan H. Dao ’00
Northrop Grumman Foundation
Nevious Osborne ’10
Ossola Wealth Management
Anthony Ossola ’98
Christopher Patrick ’10
Antranik Paylan ’01
Lana Peth ’12
Matthew Poladian ’10
Brian Richard Potts ’04
Sharon Qualls ’85
Akhilesh Rathore ’00
John P. Reichle ’97
Matthew Riley ’06
Clayton Rivest ’06
Scott Rollins ’91
Emily Gloria Rong ’12
Marc Rosenblatt ’10
Jyoti Prakash Samantaray ’11
Deborah Staring Schenery ’99
Kenneth Sherman ’09
Kenneth Adam Sherman ’09
Kane Minhong Shieh ’05
Kane Shieh ’05
Jose M. A. Singson ’03
Jennifer Stackle ’99
Dana Sumpter ’11
Syspro
Mark F. Tacconelli ’00
Andrew Tang ’10
Hao Tang ’10
Kathryn Taylor ’08
James Tea ’08
The Flattery Family Trust
Jeremy Tiss ’06
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Nicholas Tran ’11
Camlien Tsai ’98
Huan Vo-Ta ’97
Christy Wang
Scott Maison & Tiffany Wilson ’07
Handy Winata ’11
Sui Yuk Wong ’04
Amy Yan ’07
Xun Yin ’06
The Merage School Fund allows the School to maintain its financial strength and flexibility year to year. A gift of any size will make a difference and
strategically impact everyone at the Merage School. To make a gift, please visit merage.uci.edu/go/donate.
72
TRAILBLAZERS WANTED
to Help Forge a Path to Progress
As a business and community leader, alum or friend of the Merage
School, we invite you to forge a path to progress through a donation to the
Merage School Fund.
MER
AGE
S
CHO
OL F
UND
Your gift, no matter the size, helps to keep us on the leading edge of business education.
As we move from excellence to true distinction, your tax-deductible gift to the Merage School
is more important than ever, enabling us to:
Provide scholarships to attract bright and accomplished students who
will become the next generation of business leaders
Recruit new world-class faculty members
HING
MATC
GIFT S
Provide enhancements to our new state-of-the-art learning facility,
enhancing our ability to collaborate with the entire community
Support technological improvements in our classrooms, strengthening
our highly personalized learning environment
Not only does your donation help build a stronger community, it increases the value of your
degree. Join us in blazing a trail that others can follow.
An envelope is enclosed for your convenience, or you can visit merage.uci.edu/go/msf
and donate today to the Merage School Fund.
Additional giving opportunities are available through the Dean’s Leadership Circle.
Visit merage.uci.edu/go/dlc to learn more.
4H_PTPaL`V\YJVU[YPI\[PVU[OYV\NOHTH[JOPUNNPM[WYVNYHT;VÄUKV\[PM`V\YLTWSV`LY
participates, visit merage.uci.edu/go/match and enter your company’s name.
EADE
DEAN’S L
CLE
RSHIP CIR
The Dean’s Leadership Circle’s membership campaign is underway to fund a 300-seat Auditorium inside the
new Paul Merage School of Business building. Don’t miss out on your chance to be a part of history. Join or
renew your 3- or 5-year membership pledge today and select a seat inside the new Auditorium to create your
own personal legacy.
Scheduled for completion in the 2014-2015 academic year, the new building will facilitate interaction and
pay tribute to the success of Orange County’s growth and the innovations of the building’s supporters. Once
complete, it will serve as a hub for innovation and collaboration.
There’s still time to get involved. Visit merage.uci.edu/DLCauditorium or contact Sandra
Findly at 949.824.8880 and reserve the Best Seat in the House today.
SB 350
Irvine, CA 92697-3125
merage.uci.edu

Capturing Value from Digital Transformation

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