Tag Archives: BHP

BHP Students Take First Place In SCI Case Competition

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It is no secret that Austin, Texas is the place to be right now for anything to do with business. Entrepreneurs are flocking to get their startups off the ground, businessmen and women are migrating from the Silicon Valley to the Silicon Hills and everyone who’s anyone is talking about ATX. As businesses are growing, they’re also presented with bumps along the way, which is when consultants are able to lend a helping hand. The UT Student Consulting Initiative (SCI) is more than happy to offer their services to the booming business of Austin.

SCI hosted their Annual Fall Case Competition Saturday, November 23, which was sponsored by the BBA Alumni Excellence Foundation, EYAdvisory, OSL, Student Government and SCI alumni. The competition lasts two months and teams were tasked with assisting a local business with their needs from internal communication to marketing and more. Nine teams competed in the competition pairing with different local businesses. “We were very impressed with the results this year,” said SCI Co-Chair, Holli Wertheimer. “The students created a wide range of deliverables from marketing campaigns to inventory management tools to compensation requirements among many others.”

The winning team worked with Fair Bean Coffee on their internal communications and employee retention for a prize of $1,200. The team consisted of Jason Prideaux, BHP, Finance and Plan II ’16, David Kaplan, BHP & Corporate Finance ’16, Douglas Berkman, BHP ’16, and Catherine Anne Prideaux, BHP & Plan II ’16.

“This was a tremendous learning experience,” said Douglas Berkman, a member of the winning team. “The case competition provided me with insight on what it is like to be a consultant for a real company with real employees and a real owner.” Many of the students felt it was a good experience even for those not currently pursuing consulting, “I entered the competition for experience,” said Catherine Anne Prideaux. “I would highly recommend doing SCI even if you’re not considering consulting!” All four team members noted that their group meetings were one of their favorite parts of the competition.

If you’re interested in learning more about SCI, visit their website.

This article originally appeared on BBA News.

BHP Finance Major Creates A Mobile Application To Increase Productivity

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If you’ve ever wished for an easier way to organize and manage everything you need to get done then you are in luck because there’s an app for that; Cluster. CEO of Mobylsoft LLC and BHP student, Ram Anantharaman, created this iOS application. “Cluster is a productivity tool and visual planner,” said Ram. “It provides information that a simple to-do list cannot. It tells you what you should be working on right now, which is a question I was always asking myself as a student.”

Ram came up with the idea for Cluster as he attempted to juggle the chaotic schedule of a college student. “I came up with the concept out of pure need,” said Ram. “I turned to the App Store for help and as I went through the productivity options, I realized that most of them took a lot of time to enter tasks and then didn’t offer a good picture of how to complete those tasks.”

Since high school Ram has taken an interest in writing code and taught himself to do so, “I used online resources, like the Stanford lecture series and would spend eight hours at a time reading books and doing as much as I could to get my feet wet,” said Ram. “Writing code for apps is tangible. It’s a way that I can hold my creation in my own hand. I wanted to dive into the tech world and create something I myself could use. It’s a simple and beautiful way to have a startup and not spend a lot of time and money on it.”

Ram holds a high amount of confidence in his product and offers his consumers a personal money back guarantee, “I absolutely will give the customer their money back,” said Ram. “If the consumer feels that I’ve done an inadequate job making them more productive then I think that’s a problem and I’ll do anything to fix it whether it’s adding a new feature or giving their money back.” Cluster has been in the App Store for about six weeks and has over 150 downloads. Although only available for iOS (iPhone and iPad) currently, Windows phone, Windows 8 and Mac are in the future plans.

In the future, Ram would like to shift from selling straight to the consumer to working with businesses, “I would like to create a project management app for businesses with some of the interface from Cluster,” said Ram. “I think it’s a much more sustainable way to sell and make money. Also, I’m currently taking Operations Management right now and learning about supply chain management and I think I’m well equipped to create a project management application.”

Ram is projected to graduate next year and hopes to go into consulting, “I want to work for a consulting firm to build a better client network and leverage those skills to become a better entrepreneur,” said Ram.

BHP Alumni Accepted Into Top MBA Programs Across The Country

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Choosing to pursue a MBA degree is common for BHP graduates. We don’t always hear from alumni when they have been accepted into graduate school, but this year we received news from several BHP alumni letting us know that they had been accepted into top business schools across the country. In fact, seven alumni let us know that they are attending Harvard Business School, and others wrote to tell us of their acceptance into the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

 

Andrew Schwaitzberg graduated from BHP in 2008 with additional degrees in Finance and Government. Schwaitzberg worked in the energy industry for four years before applying and being accepted into the Harvard Business School. “I wanted to meet new people and find new ideas,” said Schwaitzberg. “I’m finding different ways to be a good leader and rethinking the type of manager I want to be.” Since entering the Harvard MBA program, he has found his experiences in BHP to be extremely relevant. “Whether it’s grad school or any other situation, knowing how to learn with other really talented and smart people to find a common solution is always valued highly,” said Schwaitzberg. “Being in a program where you’re constantly working and being challenged always forces you to better yourself – those are the types of skills valued most, not just whether you can build a financial model or not.”

 

Alpana Kelkar graduated with dual degrees in BHP and Marketing in 2009. She has noticed a lot of parallels between the Honors Program and the MBA program at Chicago Booth. “The curriculum is molded based on our background and interests as students,” said Kelkar. “I was attracted to the good reputation at Booth and the top-notch professors. It reminds me of BHP because everyone is really driven and collaborative.” She also notes that making connections has been an important aspect to both programs. “The teamwork and collaboration required for all BHP classes has been instrumental for me. Relationship-building is really important, especially in grad school. You never know when you’ll want to start a company and need to rely on your peers.” Kelkar describes the Chicago Booth application process as intensive and stresses the importance of telling a clear-cut story for admissions. “You have to really make sure you know what you’re trying to get out of your ultimate experience,” said Kelkar. “Make sure everything you’re portraying is accurate. Link what you’ve done in your past to what you’re going to do after school to tell one story and tie everything together.”

 

Angelique Obiri, who graduated in 2004 with degrees in BHP and Marketing, worked for the same company for eight years and was looking to switch industries and functions. She began applying to grad schools with the help of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) and took the GMAT three times, which paid off when she was accepted into four of the five schools to which she had applied. Obiri chose the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern because of the people, the curriculum and the opportunity to try new things beyond her comfort zone. She believes her time in BHP had a positive impact on the decision to admit her into the program, “In my interview I explained how I transferred into the program as a sophomore and it helped to tell my story of seeking new challenges,” said Obiri. She also offered advice to current BHP students considering getting a MBA, “Really know why you want to go to business school,” said Obiri. “The time goes by quickly and you don’t have much time for exploration once you’re actually in. Many people that come into school thinking they will figure it out are surprised about how soon you have to start making career decisions.”

 

Current BHP students and alumni of the program who are interested in pursuing an MBA and speaking with a BHP alumnus in a particular MBA program can contact Shelley Nix in the BHP office.

 

BHP Professors Use Innovative Techniques In The Classroom

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BHP Professors Use Innovative Techniques In The Classroom

We often hear from alumni and parents asking about the BHP classroom experience and what new things students are doing in the program. This semester two BHP professors tried something new with their classes. Dr. Leigh McAlister, who teaches BHP Principles of Marketing, paired BHP alumni with students in her class for a day to coach them in their area of interest. And Dr. Ethan Burris, who teaches Organizational Behavior, an upper-division management class, paired his students with MBAs in a challenge to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Dr. McAlister: Connecting BHP students and alumni

Vivek Shah, partner at Consortium Finance and BHP alum, speaking with students interested in investment banking

Vivek Shah, a 2003 graduate of the program and chair of the BHP Advisory Board Mentoring Committee, was happy to help when he heard Dr. McAlister was looking to bring alumni from all career paths in to talk about how marketing relates to what they do. “We on the board are looking to find ways to increase the connection between alumni and students, and to play a larger role in helping students as needed,” said Shah.

BHP alumna and CTO at Tiff’s Treats Cookie Delivery in Austin, Jocelyn Coe Seever, speaking with students interested in consulting

The class was broken down into smaller groups and matched with an alumnus who is currently working in the student’s chosen field. Each group was asked to come up with a new product idea to meet the needs of some customer segment in their business. The second task was to write a positioning statement for that new product. Groups fragmented throughout the classroom and into the Atrium. Idea generation began and students listened closely.

Shah hopes to see interactions like this continue. “As for the future, I think we could see more professors finding interest with bringing students into the classroom,” he said. “We could also have guest speaker sessions where an alum gives a relevant lecture about a topic being taught in class but bringing a real world and real time vantage point. Hopefully we have just scratched the surface here.”

Dr. Burris: Pairing BHP students with MBAs

In Dr. Burris’ management class, students competed in a Donald Trump-esque ‘Apprentice’ like challenge. Each group, consisting of BHP students and MBA students from his Power and Politics elective, was tasked with raising enough money to fund one wish for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, about $5,000, in ten days.

Dr. Burris replicated a technique used by Wharton professor, Adam Grant, author of New York Times bestseller, Give and Take. Students were able to apply influence techniques to “real-life” situations when soliciting donations for Make-A-Wish. Pairing undergraduate students with MBA students added another element to the process, “It was a two-fold debrief,” said Burris. “On the one hand influence played a part in tactics and strategies of getting donations. Secondly, group members also had to influence each other, bringing high power and low power dynamics to the surface.”

After the ten-day challenge, the final outcome of all groups combined was $136,065 in donations for Make-A-Wish Foundation. Students used various approaches ranging from low cost options such as email and Facebook to high effort options like reaching out to family and previous employers. Some groups took a “divide and conquer” approach while others worked together as a cohesive team. “The winning group had one member who interned for Google connect Make-A-Wish with Google Grants,” said Burris. “They applied and will most assuredly secure the grant, which is worth $10K per month in ad words. They prorated it for the year.”

We are always excited to see this kind of innovation happening in the classroom, and appreciate that our professors are always finding ways to challenge the students more and expose them the all of the resources available to them while they are here at McCombs. Thank you to Dr. Burris and Dr. McAlister, and to all of the alumni who gave up a full day to be with our students. Those alumni involved were Vivek Shah, Betsy Greytok, Jocelyn Coe Seever, Allison Steinberg, Craig Wielansky and Maneesh Verma.

 

BHP seniors honored by Texas Parents as 2013 Outstanding Student Finalists

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Michelle Moon (left) and Holland Finley (right)

Congratulations to BHP seniors Holland Finley and Michelle Moon for being honored by Texas Parents as two of the four Outstanding Student Finalists selected from the UT student body. Each year, since 1951, Texas Parents proudly selects two award recipients (one male, one female) and recognizes four award finalists who demonstrate exceptional leadership, scholarship, character and service. Holland and Michelle were presented at the November 1, 2013 Celebration of Leadership Dinner among family members and close friends and were recognized at a field presentation held during the November 2 home football game.

“It was an incredible experience, and it was so humbling to be surrounded by extraordinary achievers and givers to this University. It was a nice reminder of how much this school has given to me, and how rewarding my experience has been because of the community I have been able to find on this campus.” – Holland Finley, nominated by Randall Ford of Rec Sports and fellow student, Taylor Pousson

“Everyone was so nice and appreciative. It wasn’t so much a congratulations as a thank you. I do this because I love it. So being thanked for something I do everyday was such a rewarding experience. Unbelievable really. The fact that it was Texas parents recognizing graduating seniors created an amazing sense of family. I’m so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had at UT. It’s given me and environment where I can thrive. I feel like I should be thanking them instead of them thanking me.” – Michelle Moon, nominated by Paul Pritchett of BHP

Michelle Moon shown on the Jumbotron at the November 2 home football game