Honesty at the Last Dash Relay race

A group of runners compete in the Last
Dash Relay Race during Business Week

On Tuesday I went to the Last Dash Relay Race that the business school put on for Business Week. I thought about running in it, although I had to work late, so it's probably a good thing I decided not to, because I didn't get there until about 17 minutes into the race.

The course was set up along a 5K route, which people had to run twice. If they were on a relay team, they switched off at the halfway point. It turned out that not everybody ran it. There were some people on bikes and a couple were on roller blades.

I knew I got there about 17 minutes in, because that's when the first guy hit the halfway point. Actually, he was the third guy to hit the halfway point. Two guys came in about 30 seconds before him. By the end of the race, he had passed both of them. When they were giving out the prizes for the top three finishers in each of the categories, at least one of the runners came forward and declined his prize because he had missed a section of the race.

Nobody would have known. He could have just accepted his prize, but he didn't.

It's nice to see people being honest. It kind of restores my faith in humanity when most of what I see on the news gives evidence that you can't trust most people. And just like running, it feels good and in the long run it's better for you.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

No gridlock at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business

The five building advisory teams met for the first time last week with our architects in preliminary planning meetings. I was very happy to discover that the ideas presented by the different team members for what should be included in our new building were surprisingly similar.

Ken Snyder

Members of the Student Advisory, Technology Advisory, Classroom Advisory, Department Head Advisory and the Program Leaders Advisory teams came to the meetings prepared with ideas and reasonable suggestions.

As an example of the consistency of suggestions, here are three needs identified by all five teams:

1. We need more upscale space like what the O.C. Tanner Lounge offers on the ninth floor in the George S. Eccles Business Building. Some people suggested that it would be nice to have two more rooms like that, one larger that could be used for banquets and other special functions, and the other smaller – more like an executive board room.

2. We need an eclectic mix of classrooms. People seemed to agree that it would be nice to have a good mix of new classrooms – some flat and some tiered, some large and some small, and some mid-size classrooms and not the strict 40-seat or 80-seat classroom sizes we have in the current Eccles building.

3. We need more student meeting rooms. Everyone agreed we need a lot more rooms that could be used by students for break-out groups, team meetings and group-study sessions. As I have traveled around to various business schools, they all reported that despite their best efforts, they still feel like they didn’t include enough student meeting rooms after they completed their buildings. The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School has 55 such rooms and they told me they still feel like they could use more.

I came away not only enthused by everyone’s thoughtful input but impressed to see that 90 percent of the ideas suggested were brought up by at least two groups. I didn’t know what to expect and wondered if there would be conflicting needs that would make the process of prioritization more difficult. I was afraid I might have to referee a few battles along the way. It appears that will not be the case. We had a lot of consensus across all of the advisory teams.

- Ken Snyder

A possible path to the bobble-headed dolls industry

For some reason, I'm in a speech class. I think it might have something to do with my minor. My professor is just great. The other day I went to her office to talk about an assignment. Somehow that turned into a conversation about job searching.

The ultimate goal for any student is probably to get a job. So we submit as many applications as we can, hoping that we'll get an interview. The more interviews we get, the more assured we can be that we'll actually get a job.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

This is an age where most jobs do not come from employers posting a job and waiting to see who applies.

I already wrote about networking once. Networking helps cut down the job search. You have everyone you know looking for a job for you. It's not a bad way to do it. Ideally you want someone in the industry to let you know of a job opening. Let's face it, your mother probably doesn't know when a marketing firm is hiring. Or even which is a good marketing firm to apply for.

However, in my conversation with the professor of my speech class, who also teaches an interviewing class, lightning struck my brain.

There is a way to cut out the middle man and network all at the same time.

Let's say I am a marketing student and I really love those bobble-headed dolls that you stick on the dashboard of your car. Well, then I should call up a company that makes those and make an appointment to talk to one of the guys in their marketing department, just to find out what it is like to work for that kind of company. Who wouldn't want to help a student? And just like that I get an interview. And since I'm the one who's asking the questions, I can ask things I probably couldn't get away with asking in a job interview.

And there's a bonus. I can network with someone in the industry. If their company has openings, I've already had face time with them, which gives me an advantage over anyone else that's applying. Even if that company doesn't have any openings, they probably keep tabs on their competition. Or the guy I met with probably has friends I could talk to in other companies.

To me, this seems like a brilliant idea. Now I plan on setting up interviews with all the bobble-headed doll companies I can find. I'll let you know how it goes.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

Huntsman School Golf Tournament

A golfer lines up a putt at the Huntsman
School Golf Tournament.

One of the best things about being a student at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business is that it shares its namesake with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. It’s a constant reminder about the expended efforts of hundreds of people seeking to relieve the suffering of cancer patients.

Today, I had the opportunity to participate in an event that raised thousands of dollars for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. I played in the Huntsman School Golf Tournament along with many other students and alumni. I love to golf any chance I get, but it was also great to network with professionals and contribute to a great cause. It was a good way to start of Business Week, and I hope that we can continue to raise a lot of money for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. I’m hoping we can even beat last year’s donation.

- Kade Hansen

Wendy's "Dave's Hot 'N Juicy" strikes out

I LOVE new products. Innovation is in my DNA, and I regularly look for new products to try. By the way, if you need to hang something on your wall, try the new HERCULES Hangers at Bed, Bath and Beyond. They are AMAZING.

But I digress. Back to the story. It was with great anticipation that I read earlier this week of Wendy’s introduction of the all-new hamburger “Dave’s Big N Juicy”, the first overhaul of Wendy’s traditional hamburger offering since 1969.

Eric D. Schulz

I have to give Wendy’s PR team credit. They got great press on Monday and Tuesday about the introduction. And the story they told, of embarking on a two-year quest, criss-crossing the country trying new hamburgers, going to small dives in the middle of America, to finally land on this new landmark burger – even using a pickle scientist -- intrigued me enough that I immediately called home and informed my wife that Monday night, we were going to Wendy’s to try out the new burger, which seemed from their press release to be manna from heaven…new crinkly pickles, a butter toasted bun, thicker meat, and more.

My disappointment set in as I pulled into the parking lot. Not a sign, not a window sticker, nothing at the location indicated that the new Dave’s burger was being served. But we went inside, and yes, there it was on the menu board, so I stepped right up and ordered away.

Alas, to my dismay, it arrived looking just like the old Wendy’s burger. Same foil wrapper, nothing to indicate it was anything new or different. And indeed, when I opened it up, it wasn’t. It looked like the same old Wendy’s burger, only what used to be white onions are now red onions, and the flat pickles are now crinkly. Had I not peeled open the burger, there was no outward sign that it was anything different. Taste-wise, size wise, it was exactly the same, only now it cost $3.79.

Will this burger be the savior of Wendy’s? Not a chance. In fact, it’s probably going to do more damage to the brand than good. They’ll get a nice short-term bump in sales from people like me who will buy into the PR hype and run down and try it, but when they end up disappointed by the product, they’ll likely not return. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and if their now $3.79 burger doesn’t meet expectations (which it does not), consumers won’t come back. We’ve seen this movie before….Crystal Pepsi, New Coke…and others.

This reinforces the marketing paradigm I call The Gravitational Law of Marketing. The ONLY way to disrupt marketplace equilibrium is to introduce a new, better product that is SIGNIFICANTLY different than what already exists. Marginal improvements are a waste of time. Go big, or go home. Wendy’s. Go home. You just struck out.

- Eric D. Schulz

Lingering memories from Business Week 2010

As you hopefully know by now, Business Week is just about to start. Huntsman students, faculty and staff have worked diligently to make sure the week will be filled with enjoyable activities and opportunities to network.

My fondest memory from last year’s Business Week was watching Skyler Jenks (our then-Business Senator) and Nick Sokolik (president of USU chapter of Sigma Chi fraternity) present Jon Huntsman, Sr., with a check for the money that the school had raised during the week (pictured at right). The money was donated to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation to help fund cancer research. Even though it wasn’t a secret that any fees associated with Business Week activities were to be donated to cancer research, it became more concrete when I personally witnessed Mr. Huntsman’s satisfaction at receiving the fruits of our hard work.

A couple of days before the aforementioned moment, I spoke with several runners who had just completed the Last Dash relay race. Many of them had just run 10 miles and were exhausted. But whenever I brought up the fact that their application fee was going to be used to fund cancer research, their faces lit up as if they forgot what they had just put their bodies through.

So as we get ready for Business Week 2011, remember that it’s about more than just you getting to participate in fun activities or establish networking connections (although those are extremely important). Remember our school’s namesake and his message or helping others. 

- Connor Child

Paying Forward

Huntsman Hall

I have traveled about the United States in recent months in hopes of seeing into the future.

I’ve been visiting business schools that have recently completed new buildings to find out what they learned from the process, what is working, and what they would change if they had that opportunity. I’ve gone to the University of Washington, William and Mary, Georgetown University, the University of Utah, and the University of Minnesota. I also traveled with our architects to the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School last week where their building, Huntsman Hall, is already 10 years old. We did so because we have a special connection to that top-rated school because of our namesake Jon M. Huntsman and because we thought it would be interesting to get their insight 10 years after their building was constructed.

In each case I was welcomed and given the VIP tour. My hosts were always very open and willing to share with me what they learned from their building experiences.

Another reason I traveled was because I was looking for examples of things that I want to see in our own building. If I tell the architect that I want our building to have an “open feel” and that helps “build a sense of community within the school,” what does that mean? Visiting other schools helps me see exactly what we need and allows the opportunity to point to an example of what we could create. I also hoped to discover new ideas and gain insight I would never be able to get browsing through pictures on the internet.

Here is an example of a tiered - or "case-study" classroom
at the Wharton School. It is the best-designed case-study
classroom I have seen. The chairs even swivel 360 degrees.

I took pages of notes and made a list of more than 60 ideas we might put into the mix for our school. I thought I’d share just a few with you to see what you think.

1) One school has three rooms set aside for visiting executives and another had interview rooms just for recruiters. One facility even had a lounge for the more than 160 recruiters that visit the school each year.

2) One school had two interview rooms that were equipped so that Skype interviews could be conducted.

3) One building featured floors that looked like they were made of marble. They were really just stained concrete, a nice artistic touch that made the building look distinctive.

4) In many cases, the student-related program offices were all located in prime areas on the main floor of the building or “beachfront property” as they called it.

5) Every school I visited said they wished they had designed more meeting spaces for students. I consider that important information to know.

6) One school set aside space for future growth that could eventually be converted into offices, staff areas or a program office.

7) I saw lots of examples that show how a design can make great use of natural light, giving classrooms windows and all offices windows to the outside or a very open building interior.

8) One building discovered a problem after the construction was done. The doors had no windows. This means people are often opening the doors just to find out if a class is in session. Another made sure the doors entering the classrooms were at the back of the room so that latecomers wouldn’t disturb the entire class.

9) Some meeting rooms are adjacent to classrooms, making it easier for professors to send students into breakout sessions.

I was warned that once we have our building completed that we’d need to budget time to give visitors from other schools tours of our own building. If we build it, they will come, I was told. The help we have received has been invaluable. I’m looking forward to paying it forward.

- Ken Snyder

Organizational uses of social media

I’m a sucker for strongly worded critiques. If an author says things like, “The food at the restaurant was abysmal to the point that I intentionally threw up in my mouth to get rid of the bad taste”, sign me up.

So when I came across an article on Forbes.com titled “Skittles’ Stupid Social Media Trick”, it took me all of a nanosecond to click on the link. And I have to say, reading Laura Burkitt shred the marketing tactics of my favorite candy brand was sweeter than the figurative “taste of the rainbow” that Skittles claims its product delivers.

Connor Child

Skittles didn’t want to lag behind the rest of the industry with its social media efforts, so its marketers got rid of the traditional home web page and put in its place “a collage of content from social networking sites.” Their main error was including a live, unedited Twitter feed. It didn’t take long before anonymous, attention-seeking Twitter followers began directing “scalding” comments to its feed containing profanity. Because Skittles didn’t use a social media aggregator that would allow them to moderate comments before they were posted, the offensive language was displayed on their website for everyone to read.

Burkitt doesn’t fault Skittles for experimenting with Twitter on its website. She criticizes them for not using a social media aggregator, such as FriendFeed or Plaxo, to “view comments and moderate them before they are posted.” Companies now have the liberty of doing this thanks in large part to PepsiCo. FriendFeed never had this feature until Pepsi requested that they make the service available only to Pepsi, but they added the option for all companies.

Now I want to shift from a company that didn’t get social media to one that excels at it: the NBA.

In April of this year, Maria Burns Ortiz wrote an article for ESPN.com titled, “The NBA’s social media explosion”. She mentions several facts and figures illustrating the NBA’s dominance over its competitors in the social media realm: “The NBA has positioned itself as the top sports league in social media – No. 1 on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in terms of respective followers, likes and views.” At the time this article was written, the NBA had 10.5 million users who like and follow its official Facebook and Twitter page; the NFL, which is easily the most popular sports league in the United States, had yet to crack 5 million.

What has this done for the NBA? It has engaged fans in an unprecedented way. They can get to know their favorite stars on a much more personal level than ever before (approximately half of the NBA’s players are on Twitter). League and team officials can also monitor relevant trends and see what the fans are talking about. This allows them to gain valuable consumer information for marketing and public relations purposes.

I am baffled as to why the other professional sports leagues haven’t followed the NBA’s lead on this. Perhaps the NFL doesn’t view the NBA as a viable competitor (indeed, revenue for the NFL dwarfs that of the NBA). But didn’t we just spend a summer listening to NFL owners say they weren’t making enough money? Instead of trying to convince us that you aren’t getting your fair share of revenue, please spend more time getting to know your consumers and delivering us what we want.

- Connor Child

Honor thy consumer

Eric Schulz

I wish I had a dime for every time someone called me up, bursting with excitement over some brilliant new product idea they just had. Inspiration strikes in some strange and wonderful places: washing the dog, looking for car keys, flipping the remote. The thought emerges, “Gee, I wish someone would invent something to make my dog smell better, or find my keys, or keep my remote handy.” Presto, the idea is hatched, and the product begins to take shape.

Sometimes the ideas are pretty good, and often the inventor has already dreamed up a catchy name, like “Smooch Your Pooch Sweet Smelling Shampoo.” But marketing a successful product should never begin with a focus group of one. The problem with many of these home-grown inventions is the inventor becomes so intoxicated with his idea that he starts building momentum before he tests the concept. He violates the most important rule of the marketing game: Honor Thy Consumer.

Everything in marketing begins and ends with the consumer. Before you can sell your product -- before you even develop a product -- you must understand what the consumer wants and design your offering to meet his or her needs. You may want a dog that smells like the Rose Queen, but do other consumers share your desire -- and will they pay for it? If your product concept is on the mark, then your job is simply finding the best way to communicate that you’ve got the goods consumers want. It’s a basic concept: you can’t create a need that isn’t there, and you can’t argue consumers out of what they want.

Knowing that the consumer is at the heart of every marketing decision, researchers have invented ingenious techniques to get in tune with the consumer, from focus groups, phone & mail surveys, concept testing, in-home trial and mall intercepts to proprietary panels, Internet panels and purchase diaries. Consumers have been ambushed, bar coded, spied upon and even hypnotized in the quest for information. Companies pour millions of dollars into research every year to help them understand what consumers are thinking and how the marketplace is changing.

But here’s the big question: if you are looking at the same studies and doing the same types of research as your key competition, how is it possible that you will gain insights different -- and better -- than theirs? The answer: you can’t.

Top companies understand this fact, and force their marketing personnel to go farther than standard methodologies to gain broader and deeper consumer understanding. This is where they create competitive advantage. They teach their marketers how to beat competition at the consumer learning game, where all good marketing begins.

So how do the top companies get better information than the competition? By spending millions, right? Wrong. Top companies teach their marketing personnel to gain strategic consumer insight through everyday life…watching TV commercials, browsing in stores and talking with friends and family.

It sounds too ordinary to be true, doesn’t it? Paying attention in everyday life is nowhere near as exciting as launching a half-million dollar research project, complete with one-way mirrors and hidden video. But don’t be fooled by the trappings of research. Top companies know the best way to gain real world experience is in the real world.

- Eric Schulz

A shared vision is born

Ken Snyder

Last week representatives from all the groups involved in planning our new building got together for what I will call a “visioning meeting.” We talked about the things we want to be sure this new building will do for the school. We created a comprehensive list of our “vision.”

• It’s more important to invest time to carefully assess the needs of our students and to design the building properly than it is for us to work on an accelerated design and construction schedule.

• We’d prefer a smaller well-designed building to a larger one that fails to meet our needs.

• The building should have an open feel and design that helps create a sense of community.

• We want to let the sun shine in. The design should take full advantage of natural lighting.

• It should be designed to best meet our student’s needs. We want to keep that idea foremost in our planning.

• We need to have more student-centric places available.

• We want to take advantage of the opportunity to build an iconic structure.

• Huntsman Hall needs to fit among the other buildings on campus so that it will contribute, not detract, from what makes the Utah State University campus remarkable.

• The building should effectively connect with and integrate into the existing George S. Eccles Business Building so that they feel like one complex.

• We are becoming a top-tier business school and we want to be sure our building reflects that.

• The building should be a recruiting tool to attract faculty members and new students. It should entice people to come join us.

• The design should promote collaboration between students, faculty and staff. It should feel inviting to the local, state and world leaders who will come to visit and meet with our students.

• The design should take advantage of the latest technology and be flexible to adapt to developments in the future.

• The design should support our “global vision” pillar and invite students to explore how they can “change the world.”

We realize this is a preliminary list and that it may change, but we think we are off to a good start.

- Ken Snyder

Applications now open!

The Fall 2011 session of Great Work Great Career is almost underway! We have our speakers all lined up for this semester and have some really great people coming to speak to us.

To recap for those unfamiliar with the course:

Great Work Great Career is a career and professional development workshop that will help you identify and develop your unique skill set, learn how to take charge of your life and get the work you want. We will also teach you how to create a custom résumé and cover letter, and you will learn how to deliver an engaging interview. So much time and energy is put into 4+ years of education, now is the time to learn how to put all of that into practice and apply it to the real world!

Applications are now being accepted, and the process will close Tuesday, September 20. The first class begins Thursday Sept. 22, and will be held every Tuesday night thereafter from 6:30-8:00 p.m. until November 15. There is a course fee of $99, which includes a copy of Dr. Covey's book, Great Work Great Career, access to Dr. Covey's online community, a certificate of completion, and a delicious closing social dinner.

For more information and to apply, go to huntsman.usu.edu/greatworkgreatcareer.

Any questions can be emailed to greatworkgreatcareer@gmail.com.

We hope to see you there!

Are there too many A grades given out in college?

My boss keeps telling me I should write a blog about how there are too many A’s being given out in college classes these days.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

I haven't yet taken his advice. Obviously. Until now, kind of.

With the new school year, there comes new students, new classes and new teachers. One of these new professors teaches one of the lower division classes in my major and has declared that his class will be graded harder. He said most kids will get a “C”, the same amount will get a D as will get a B, and very few will get an F or an A.

In statistics, this is normal. Actually, according to all the grading standards I’ve ever heard of, this is normal. I was taught to expect a C if I met the expectations, a B was for exceeding expectations, and an A was for being outstanding.

It seems as though in my grade school days a D was a passing grade. It wasn’t a good thing, but it was acceptable. You got credit. Frankly, I was a B student. That doesn’t really sound that great, but it was 10 or 20 years ago. It was better than most. Now it’s just okay. Now it seems that most people who read and bother to show up for the test can get at least a B. Statistics says that 13.6 percent of people should get a D, and the same should get a B. But things have shifted. Now you don’t pass a class if you get a D.

I don’t disagree with that, but I think that when you raise the bar like that, you shouldn’t lower your expectations for the other grades. Now everyone expects to get an A, where before only about 2.3 percent got an A.

Growing up I was told that college was going to be harder than high school. I think it’s easier to get an A now then it was back then. In fact, after about the 2nd grade the only 4.0 GPA’s I’ve ever had were in college.

Growing up I was told that college was going to prepare me for real life and a big-boy job. Mostly it does, but only because I chose a major with classes that are based more on my skills and that really train me to do my general profession. However, if students had to compete against one another to get good grades, it would be more like real life. If there were only so many openings for graduates, it would make us better. Either that or we would drop out.

Growing up I was told that college was going to expect me to write in cursive. Now everybody types everything, and it mostly looks like cell phone text shorthand.

So there’s my soapbox, and my hope that my boss will stop suggesting the same thing to write about.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

A customer makes an airline pay for breaking his guitar

Dave Carroll and the other members of Sons of Maxwell
mourn the broken Taylor guitar

Recently I had the opportunity to review a public relations case study and a very funny trilogy of YouTube videos that took place in 2009 called “United Breaks Guitars.” Now apparently this is a very popular video (Time magazine named "United Breaks Guitars" #7 on its list of the Top 10 Viral Videos of 2009) and it enjoyed enormous success. It gave Dave Carroll, the man affected by the incident, many more gigs and now he is a featured speaker on customer service.

For those of you who aren’t acquainted with the incident, Dave Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell, were taking a plane to Nebraska from Halifax to do a show and they had a layover in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. While on the plane they saw the baggage handlers on the tarmac man-handling their luggage and, as a consequence, breaking his $3,500 Taylor guitar. He tried to file a claim with the airline; however, he didn’t make it within the “standard 24-hour timeframe” so there he was, stuck with a broken guitar and no help. This rejection to replace his broken guitar went on for nine months.
So what did he do? He gave United Airlines an ultimatum to replace his guitar or he would write three songs about how terrible their customer service is. Well, you can imagine what happened. Big company like that has no reason to care about one passenger. Or do they?
Dave Carroll released the first video, “United Breaks Guitars,” and it went viral immediately. It amassed over half-a-million views within the first three days.

That got United’s attention. They tried to right the wrong but it was too little too late. Carroll responded that he would continue to release the next two videos and that United could go ahead and just give the money they were offering to a charity and then to let him know which one it was.

This was a terrible public relations move on the part of United Airlines. First of all, the age-old saying is that, “If you break it, you replace it.” Especially when there are so many people to attest to the fact that “Yes, we saw you break it, we all saw it.” I think the worst thing United Airlines did was to continue to ignore this man for nine months and then to act repented about it after the fact. It was a very easy fix, something that could have been taken care of in no time at all. United just decided to press their luck and, in this round, they ended up losing big time.
Now in regards to Dave Carroll, I believe he took everything like a champ. I don’t think he could have had any better PR to improve his image and the subsequent happenings attest to that. I think that even in his follow-up video to “United Breaks Guitars” where he says the people that work there aren't bad people, they just followed the rules when they should have been caring about the person.

I’m sorry if this seems like a tangent but today I had the opportunity to go to the Dean’s Convocation with the Huntsman School of Business up here at Utah State University. The speaker was Michael Glauser, the new Executive Director of Entrepreneurial Programs, and he gave a stellar presentation. During this presentation he spoke about how business needs to be more about the people and that once we put people first, the rest will follow and we will find success. Here in this case study it’s evident that United Airlines failed to put people first, instead deciding to stick to its guidelines and, in the end, suffering the consequences (whether its stock was directly affected by this or not is still up to debate, but there is no denying that soon after the event it went down by 10 percent, or $180 million).

If we look on the flip side, what a great learning opportunity for United to take away from this and to use in future trainings. There is a silver lining to every cloud; with this one we can rest assured that United is going to take this experience into account and build off of it. Why? Because United is a smart company and they haven’t been around as long as they have because they are bad at doing business.
Every big company make big mistakes sometimes; this just happened to be one of them.

- Rob Goates

Huntsman School's Campus-Wide Text Messaging Club

Many of you may have noticed these green ads in various locations throughout campus. The Huntsman School is developing a campus-wide text messaging club where students will get updates on major university and Huntsman School of Business events. This will help improve communication between the Huntsman School and its students.

When students send a text to the number 88222, their phone numbers are entered into the text messaging club, and they become eligible for the drawings. In mid-September, the Huntsman School will randomly select two individuals who have entered the drawing for the awards. One student will win a $500 gift card to USU's bookstore, and another student will be awarded Aggie Ice Cream for one year.

Entrepreneurs and how they can benefit those around them

Students interested in entrepreneurship should know that the Huntsman School struck gold with the recent hiring of Michael Glauser as the executive director of entrepreneurial programs. He was the featured speaker at the Dean’s Convocation today, and his experience, knowledge and passion for entrepreneurship were on full display.

Michael Glauser

Dr. Glauser is especially fond of organizations that seek to satisfy a social need in the community. He talked about Henri Landwirth and how he started Give Kids the World. He spoke of Mimi Silbert and the lives she has touched with the Delancey Street Foundation. It didn’t take him long to talk about our school’s namesake, Jon Huntsman, and all that he has done in cancer research and education.

Dr. Glauser was emotional at times as he talked about the great things these people have done, and his sincerity and passion made it impossible not to get on board with what he was saying. He has extensive experience starting up successful businesses of his own, and he has been exposed to many of the world’s best entrepreneurs.

He closed with a list of what makes a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial leaders:

• Work in the boundary of their organization
• Apply creativity and innovation in problem solving
• Pivot to opportunities from being in market
• Engage a "Brain Trust" of helpful mentors
• Build powerful entrepreneurial teams
• Establish networks to commercialize ventures
• Create more with less resulting in lower costs
• Build extraordinary customer service systems
• Serve a broader purpose in their community

Huntsman Hall East, meet Huntsman Hall West

When we talk about our new building, Huntsman Hall, we are still at the stage where we are envisioning the possibilities. There are no bricks to kick or windows to open. And yet, did you know that there’s already a Huntsman Hall in place that is home to more than 4,000 business students?

Ken Snyder

The Jon M. Huntsman Hall, which cost $139.9 million to build in 2002, is at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The 324,000-square-foot building features 48 classrooms, 57 group-study rooms and two cafes.

Just like us, they put some thought into their building; in fact, they held more than 100 focus groups as they were deciding how to design their facility. Their careful planning shows. The iconic building is one that will prove functional and attractive to generations of students long after the faculty and staff who serve there now have retired.

We have something else in common with the Wharton School. Jon M. Huntsman, our namesake, is an alumnus of that school. In fact, when he came to Utah State University in 2007 to be recognized for his $26 million gift, he brought with him Thomas P. Gerrity, a former Wharton dean who spoke at the event. Since that day, when we changed our name to the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, we have paid several visits to Wharton, establishing a connection to that great school that continues today. In fact, in just a few days I will visit that school with our architects to see what we can learn from them about building our Huntsman Hall.

Even though the Huntsman Hall at the Wharton School is much larger than our Huntsman Hall will be, we look to it as an example of how to carefully plan and design a building that will best serve our students. Take a tour of the Huntsman Hall East, as I call it, and comment on this blog, telling me what you like about that facility and what you think we should adopt in Huntsman Hall West. 

Ken Snyder