February 2008 Archives

Kelley's tagline these days is "One School. Endless Possibilities".  Among those possibilities is the ability to pursue your MBA in either the full time residential program in Bloomington, the part-time evening program in Indianapolis or online through Kelley Direct.

While it is "one school" each of the three will, at times, put their own spin on the educational experience. One value of pursuing a degree in such an integrated school is that even though I'm a student in the Indianapolis program, I typically get the chance to participate in special events and opportunities offered in the others.

I had the good fortune to take part in the "IU Entrepreneurial Connection" put on The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and the Bloomington MBA's a few weeks ago. This event was to bring together Kelley students, alumni, and entrepreneurs across the state in a unique learning and networking experience.

The keynote speaker was Mr. Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines and the Johnson Center's current IU Distinguished Entrepreneur-In-Residence. Mr. Kelleher, who apparently goes by "Herb", is certainly an impressive man who has done impressive work.

(Image courtesy of Indiana University)

He spoke of the keys to Southwest's success, like the importance of their corporate culture (the company President is also the "Chief Cultural Officer"), their dedication first and foremost to their employees (if employees are happy, they'll serve the customers well and shareholders will benefit), and the importance of hiring the right employee for the company (they hire people with the right attitude, skills can be taught).

It's tough to find a more successful entrepreneur than Mr. Kelleher and not every business school gets the benefit of his time and attention. Luckily, for all of us in Bloomington that day, Kelley is that school.

Hello everyone!  I am a new member to the Kelley Bloggers, and this is my very first blog!  First of all, I want to say "thank you" to the Kelley staff to have me here.  I am so excited!

Well, as a starter, let me just tell you a bit about myself...I am from Japan, and been here for...7 years by now (Wow!  Time flies...I've never felt it's been this long!).  Almost 6 years out of 7, I have been a student of IUPUI, the first 5 years as an undergraduate student with finance major, and now as a graduate student in MSA program.  I do remember my first year at IUPUI, I was so overwhelmed by the new environment...the classes, people, different language, different cultures...and so forth.  I was so excited about my new challenge, but also was so nervous whether I could catch up with all the study I needed to do. Every beginning of the semester, I felt "Oh no...I will not be able to make it...It is just...too much to me!".  My anxiety reached the maximum level, when I started reading the class syllabuses.  You know, the syllabus is the scariest thing!  It tells you all about how hard students have to work (and it's always not enough!), how difficult the class will be, how many assignments students have to do within a limited time, how students may fail from the course, and how soon the last date of withdrawal is coming, etc...  Reading the syllabus, for me, almost feels like watching a preview of a horror movie.  I know I am gonna enjoy the movie, and I know there will be a lot of shocks and screams (that I tend to have after the exams or getting my exams back), but since I've already watched the preview, I got to watch the movie anyway.  It's a mixture of scary feeling and curiosity that I feel when I read a syllabus.  I hope you understand if you are a student. 

Well, frankly speaking, after the 6 years of repetition, I still feel this way when I start a new semester.  The good thing is, from my experience, I pretty much know that I will make it through the semester after all, and syllabuses don't scare me too much any more.  Well, it's pretty scary still, but I know that feeling will go away as I walk though the classes every week (and study!). 

...and here I am.  This is my second semester as a graduate student. 

I hope now you got a sense of who I am.  This is me, Kayoko, or please call me Kay, if it's a bit different for you to pronounce (or read) my name.  Thank you for reading my first blog, and nice meeting with all of you.  I hope I have a chance to get to know you better, too!

When I first started the Kelley program last Fall a friend referred me to a blog over at Bnet, an online management resource from the folks at CNET Networks. The blogger was someone a year or two older than me who had also decided to go back to school part time and document her experiences and share them with humanity through the magic of the Internet.

It's an interesting read and it always reminds me that every MBA program is not the same.

In a recent entry, she questions whether going back to school to get a law degree would be more valuable than getting an MBA.  She came to such a question when her program provided CEO's from the "real world" to discuss leadership and she noticed that not a one of them held an MBA. I think the question is valid and I might come back to it in another blog entry. However, I was most interested in the speakers that her program had brought in: "one from the local government, one from a regional bank, and one with an entrepreneur background."

Her leadership class sounds somewhat like our X522 Enterprise Lecture Series. However, the caliber of presenters is a bit different. The first two weeks of our program alone have featured two successful and well known entrepreneurs/angel investors, a senior manager with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, a senior vice president of FinishMaster, and two senior vice presidents of Adidas-Reebok.

Of the six presenters, five had their MBA. Three of them had received a Kelley MBA and the other two earned their degrees at the University of Chicago and University of Michigan.

Anyone notice a difference?

I don't know which school the Bnet blogger is attending but it seems to be quite unlike Kelley. People pursue advanced degrees for different reasons and you have to do your research. According to Find-MBA.com there are no less than nineteen institutions offering an MBA in this state alone, so it would be easy to choose one and be frustrated. Personally, I would be underwhelmed in her program.

I expect "real world" speakers of the stature of our presenters because I'm working to become an executive of that level. Anything less would be a disappointment.