As 2015 comes to a close, we asked Michigan Ross faculty members to gaze deep into their crystal balls and share a little insight into where the business world might be heading in 2016.

Here’s what they had to say in Ross Thought in Action:

Rebuilding of the Public’s Trust

After a year of high-profile business scandals including Volkswagen and FIFA, Michigan Ross Professors Cindy Schipani and David Mayer say there’s work to do in 2016 in rebuilding the public’s trust of corporations.

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More Frequent Mergers and Acquisitions

There was a record-setting $4.35 trillion in merger and acquisition deals in 2015, and Michigan Ross Professor E. Han Kim doesn’t see that slowing down next year.

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Continued Evolution of the Workplace

Michigan Ross Professor Gretchen Spreitzer sees two main workplace themes emerging in 2016 — and they stand to shake up how we interact with coworkers and how we view work-life balance.

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A More Desirable Chinese Currency

The yuan stands to be officially endorsed as a reserve currency by the International Monetary Fund in 2016, and Ross Professor Linda Lim shares what that means for the global economy.

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Changing Corporate Responses to Climate Change

The Paris Climate Conference may be over, but the role of corporations in the global response to climate change is just beginning to take shape. Ross Professor Andy Hoffman tells us what to expect from companies tackling the issue in 2016.

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Michigan Ross alumni scored six coveted spots on Forbes’ 2016 30 Under 30 rankings, which recognize the best and brightest young talent in 20 different sectors. Their businesses are vastly different — ranging from financial services to women’s shapewear— but they share the same entrepreneurial spirit and passion.

Congratulations to Grace Hsia, Reda Jaber, Robert Kalsow-Ramos, Vikas Patel, Ruben Soto, and Lisa Ganderson for achieving this honor. Read more about each recipient below, and check out the full list here.

Grace Hsia, MSE ’13

Founder of Warmilu
Category: Manufacturing and Industry

While Hsia earned the Forbes nod for her work on Warmilu, a non-electric therapeutic warming technology targeted for infants and seniors, she is also a senior project manager at MForesight and project manager at the Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy at the University of Michigan.

​Reda Jaber, MSCR ’12/MBA ’14/MD ’14

Partner at IncWell
Category: Healthcare

Jaber leverages his unique academic background to lead healthcare investments at IncWell. Prior to joining IncWell, Jaber held analyst gigs at Stage 2 Innovations and Wolverine Angel Network, co-founded several startups, and authored and published a children’s book series about entrepreneurship.

Robert Kalsow-Ramos, BBA ’08

Principal, Apollo Global Management
Category: Finance

Kalsow-Ramos began his quick ascension to the top in finance as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. He’s now a principal at Apollo Global Management and serves on the boards of Hexion and Momentive.

​Vikas Patel, BBA ’07

Senior Analyst, Millennium Management
Category: Finance

An honoree in the financial category, Patel has held positions at Bank of America, UBS Investment Bank, and Cohen & Steers. Previous to his current role at Millennium Management, Patel served as CFO of TrendSeeder Corp.

Ruben Soto, BBA ’08

Founder, Hourglass Angel
Category: Retail & Ecommerce

It likely comes as no surprise to those close to Soto that he made the 30 Under 30 list, as he launched Hourglass Angel while he was still a student at U-M. The popular women’s shapewear retailer has also been included in Inc. Magazine's rankings of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in America.

Lisa Ganderson, BBA '08

Senior Associate, Investments, General Electric Energy Ventures
Category: Energy

Ganderson is working to lead investments into new and emerging energy companies for GE, as well as manage current investments, to help develop a robust portfolio. Before starting at GE, Ganderson studied natural gas volatility pricing while serving as a Stanback Fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Read the full list

Whether it’s an E.coli outbreak at a fast-casual food chain or an ever-deepening emissions scandal from an automaker, consistent news of organizations in turmoil makes it clear that knowing how to successfully navigate a crisis is a must-have skill for anyone hoping to lead a company.

And starting today, more than 100 first-year Michigan Ross MBAs will get the firsthand crisis experience needed to help turn them into effective leaders who know how to balance competing priorities, act according to values, and steer a company to safer waters.

The Michigan Ross Leadership Crisis Challenge is a two-day event that will put Ross students in charge of a company experiencing a crisis that is quickly spiraling out of control.

Organized by the school’s Sanger Leadership Center, the event kicks off this afternoon when the students will divide into teams of four to six people and assign themselves roles on the executive team of a still undisclosed company.

Throughout the night, teams learn more about the crisis as it unfolds in real time, becoming much more complicated and troublesome. In the morning, teams present their strategic plan for managing the crisis to a board of directors composed of Ross faculty and business executives visiting from some of the country’s biggest firms.

Exact details of the challenge will remain a secret until the event kicks off tonight in Robertson Auditorium, but stay tuned and check back here for updates as the crisis unfolds and the students scramble to respond to the changing pressures and demands of the quickly-developing situation.

Follow @MichiganRoss on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates.

UPDATES
5:45 PM EST

Students are now the executive team of Polaris Cruise Lines, a subsidiary of Constellation Cargo, Inc — a freight, logistics, travel, and hospitality company with operations around the world.

The company does $25 billion in annual revenue, but the position of the company is in danger because of a toxic algae bloom that is threatening the health of citizens and wildlife in the Miami area. It is believed that the bloom is the result of Polaris’ flagship, Night Sky, releasing untreated ballast water into the bay.

Watch this news report for more on the issue^*:

*Produced for crisis simulation purposes

The teams are responsible for managing the crisis in every aspect: financially, socially, politically, economically, etc. They’ll begin working on their proposed responses now, but as with many real-life crises, unknown hurdles await them throughout the remainder of the night.

7:15 pM EST

Things have escalated in the Polaris algae bloom scandal. As news of the crisis has spread across the country, the executive leaders of Polaris Cruise Lines were met with the angry screams of protesters earlier tonight.

Here is some video from the scene:

The protest comes as the team learns that concerned shareholders are urging the company to keep its financial obligations in mind. Taking swift action to investigate and correct any issues with its cruise ships could cost the company tens of millions of dollars, and it’s already operating with a working deficit of $1.42 billion. Their ability to turn a profit coming out of this situation will be more important than ever.

The protesters are mad, the shareholders are mad, and there are just a few hours to go before students meet with board members - and they’re probably not too happy either. Stay tuned.

The Leadership Crisis Challenge is crisis simulation exercise developed and led by the Sanger Leadership Center. The challenge is an opt-in program for U-M students that is offered several times during the academic year. This includes a March challenge for MSCM, MAcc, MM, and other U-M graduate students; and a February challenge for BBA, business minor, and other U-M undergraduate students.

Learn more about how you can participate

University of Michigan students will get the chance to pitch their business ideas to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors later this week in the hopes of getting one step closer to a portion of more than $85,000 in prize money.

In all, 16 teams will compete in the second round of the Michigan Business Challenge, a startup competition hosted by the Zell Lurie Institute at Michigan Ross. The teams are made up of students from across U-M, and include companies that offer everything from digital facial prosthetics to space weather forecasting.

Click here for a full list of teams competing in the second round.

Last year, the winner of the MBC was a team of Ross BBA students who started the mobile app Companion (pictured above). Since winning, the team has passed several impressive milestones for a young company, and has been featured in national media.

Eight other teams will compete in a separate Social Impact track of the challenge, awarding companies that support and promote social and environmental impact. This is the second year the Michigan Ross Center for Social Impact has sponsored a social impact track for the Michigan Business Challenge. Teams competing in the Social Impact track this year include:

CARt

Stacey Matlen (MPH ’16), Mikaela Rodkin (MBA/MS ’17), Ali Jensen (MPH ’16), Christine Priori (MBA/MPH ’17)
Coordinating rides for low-income, low-vehicle access individuals to get to and from supermarkets so they have increased access to healthy, affordable food.

GoodVest

Mohsen Ghazi (JD ’16)
Using advanced algorithms to provide data-driven insights into the social impact and financial strength of publicly traded companies.

Inverxion

Marco A. Hidalgo (MBA ’16)
Alternative investment firm that supports minority-owned businesses with capital investments of $10,000 or more.

Kulisha

Eric Katz (BBA ’17)
Offering a superior aquafeed using insects that adds value to aquaculture operations and reduces environmental impact.

LiquidGoldConcept

Jeff Plott (PhD ’16), Rachel Atwood (MHI ’16)
Fostering an open exchange of breastfeeding knowledge to develop evidence-based lactation education tools for parents and providers.

NELO

Chiedozie Okafor (MBA/MA ’16)
Online tool and app envisioned with students first to improve the number of at-risk students who not only graduate, but are positioned to be competitive in the job market.

Project MESA

Katherine Chen (BSE ’17), Bharathi Ram (MPH ’17), Molly Munsell (BSE ’18)
Designing a portable gynecological exam table to help rural clinicians in developing countries conduct more effective and frequent women’s examinations in mobile health settings.

socFoodBank

Suchandan Pal (PhD ’16)
Platform to reduce food waste by connecting small businesses, restaurant owners, and event organizers with volunteers.

StepFor

Jordan Golshan (BBA ’17), Andy Jinseok Lee (MS ’17), Hyorim Kim (BS ’17)
Maximizing the marketing value of every dollar spent on corporate donations by effectively engaging users through fitness-powered crowdfunding.

Advancing teams from both tracks will compete in the semifinals in February.

Learn more about ZLI

Ok, admittedly that headline is a bit much. But it’s not wrong.

Over the course of the last academic year, we strapped GoPro cameras to a number of our BBA students to get an inside look at their life at Michigan Ross. What we saw were incredible experiences that are shaping their futures, global adventures that are building their skills, and world-class lessons that are training them to lead in a world that needs leaders who make a positive difference.

The Michigan Ross BBA is a new kind of business education, fueled by a revamped curriculum and a global, action-based approach to learning. This immersive look will allow you to experience it like never before.

Share this video

Special thanks to the many Michigan Ross BBA students and alums who helped film and share their experience:

Amber Blanks, BBA ‘16
Ed Berzanskis, BBA ‘17
Chelsi Modest, BBA ‘15
Reetika Purohit, BBA ‘16
Ben Rathi, BBA ‘17
Alexandria Swift, BBA ‘18
Eric Totaro, BBA ‘15
Erin Watkins, BBA ‘17
Cassie Webb, BBA ‘16
Adam Zane, BBA ‘16

Wil Haygood told White House butler Eugene Allen’s story on the front page of the Washington Post, in a best-selling book, and on the big screen.

But it was a routine night covering a campaign event that got the ball rolling on the story of a working-class African-American man who witnessed years of history.

Haygood had covered a Barack Obama campaign event in South Carolina in 2008 when he saw three young women, all white, outside the event crying. He asked them why they were crying, and if there was anything he could do.

They said their fathers had kicked them out of their homes for supporting Obama.

“They believed what Dr. King believed, that we should judge a person not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” said Haygood, who delivered the McInally MLK Lecture at Ross. He wrote the New York Times bestseller The Butler: A Witness to History, and was associate producer of the film based on his book.

Haygood's talk focused on dream makers like Martin Luther King Jr., Allen, and Nelson Mandela, and why they matter in the course of history.

His conversation with the three women in South Carolina led Haygood to think Obama would win. So he later pitched a story idea to his editor — find an African-American who worked at the White House before desegregation, and tell their story with the backdrop of the first black president.

His editor gave him five days to find someone before getting back on the campaign trail. He finally hit paydirt when he found Eugene Allen, a former White House butler who worked with eight presidents — from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan.

Allen was there when Martin Luther King visited the White House and told an aide, “Now take me to my people,” meaning the service workers. He was there when President Kennedy left for Dallas, never to return. He was there when news arrived of Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment in South Africa.

And he was there when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Eugene Allen, who worked at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the most powerful address in the world, when he went back to his native Virginia couldn’t try on a suit in a store because of the color of his skin,” Haygood said.

Haygood asked Allen during his interview if anyone had ever written about his life and his unique perspective on American history.

“He put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Well, if you think I’m worthy, you’ll be the first,’” he said. “And that hurt me. Because this man sometimes loved his country more than his country’s laws loved him.”

But Allen and his family were in the audience when Obama was sworn in as president.

“The butler leaned over to me and said, ‘This is the first inauguration I’ve ever been invited to. When I was in the White House, you couldn’t even dream you could dream of a moment like this,’” Haygood said.

Obama’s election was the result of a long struggle and dreamers who believed in King’s principles. Said Haygood: “Those three girls, Nelson Mandela, a butler, and Dr. King. Who are we not to go forth and honor each of these people?”

You read that right. Less than 100 days remain until Ross students walk across the stage in Hill Auditorium, new degree and unlimited future possibilities in hand.

If you’re on your way to graduation, it probably seems like just yesterday you were walking in the doors to Ross for the first time as a student, looking around the Winter Garden unsure of what to expect.

Now, you’ve had incredible experiences at companies all across the world. You’ve met great people. You’ve learned from some of the best professors.

And you’re not done yet. There’s still so much more to experience.

Here are some tips for how to spend your last 100 days (or 99 or 94 or six days, depending on when you read this) as a Michigan Ross student.

Attend a Great Debate

Groups of BBA and MBA students will stage formal debates with Ross Faculty members on controversial issues. Last year Ross MBA students and professors debated the legalization of marijuana. This year’s topics haven’t been finalized - but mark your calendars because it’s sure to be a must-see event.

MBA Great Debate
February 11
4:00 p.m. - Robertson Auditorium

BBA Great Debate
February 18
5:30 p.m. - Robertson Auditorium

Find out your Myers Briggs Type

Ross alum and certified MBTI Facilitator Amir Younes (MBA ‘13) will be back at Ross to help students position themselves well for early career success by understanding the ins and outs of their unique personality traits.

Myers Briggs Workshop for MBA2s
March 27
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Tour the Big House

BBA students will take to the turf on April 1 for a special tour of Michigan Football headquarters.

Dress Your Best for The Rosscars

Ross BBA students wrap up their 100 days celebration in mid April with a formal event called The Rosscars. They’ll walk the red carpet to put a cap on their BBA experience before walking down the commencement aisle on April 29.

Both MBA and BBA students have many other events planned for the last 100 days of classes at Ross, and more are being scheduled every week. You can see their complete and growing schedules by following the links below.

MBA Events 

BBA Events

Learn more about Ross Commencement activities for the Class of 2016

Michigan Ross has long been a leader in research, education, and leadership development in the area of sustainability, as evidenced by the multitude of programs, research opportunities, student experiences, and other commitments our professors and students are engaged with every day.

Since before the founding of our Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise in 1996 in collaboration with the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment, and into the present - our work in sustainability has led Ross to be home to the world’s largest dual-degree business sustainability program in the world.

Take a look at this infographic to learn more about sustainability at Michigan Ross (click image to enlarge).

Learn more about the Erb Institute

Learn more about our Sustainability area of study

This morning, Warde Manuel was announced as the new Michigan Athletic Director. In addition to his years of experience as AD for Buffalo and UConn, Manuel will bring to the job the world-class leadership skills and business acumen of a Michigan Ross graduate.

Manuel graduated from the Ross Executive MBA Program in 2005, while he was serving as an associate AD for Michigan overseeing football and men’s basketball.

In this morning’s press conference, Manuel thanked many people who have had profound impacts on his life. Included were Michigan Ross professors Tom Kinnear and Len Middleton.

“I chose to accept this offer … because we are leaders and best in both athletics and academics,” Manuel said. “[And] It shows bright in the impact our students have.”

Manuel will be only the 13th athletic director in U-M history.

Read more about Manuel and this morning’s announcement:

Learn more about the Ross Executive MBA

Image from: Mgoblue.com

More than 200 Ross students are spending all or part of this winter semester abroad, experiencing other cultures, studying in other business schools, and learning from global business executives.

It’s part of the biggest year ever for global business at Michigan Ross - which is seeing a deepening of the Ross connection in India, a new global partnership in China, global executive-level programs, and more study abroad experiences than ever before. And in a globalized business world, those types of experiences and opportunities are essential to developing effective, world-class business leaders.

This semester, Ross BBA and MBA students are studying in 18 countries across the globe at more than 20 partner universities through the Ross Global Semester Exchange Program. Later this semester, first-year Ross MBA students will also take part in MAP projects that will send them to various locations across the world.

MERGE, the redesigned BBA curriculum, gives students the flexibility to study abroad for an entire semester during their Michigan Ross career, and the Office of Global Initiatives is helping to make that global learning a reality.

Students will be studying in Finland, Italy, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Denmark, Spain, France, China, Singapore, The Netherlands, Israel, Czech Republic, Thailand, Switzerland, Germany, India, and Japan.

Forty students from 18 different business schools across the globe are also coming to Ross to continue their business studies this semester here in Ann Arbor. They hail from Turkey, Costa Rica, Australia, and Macau, among other countries already mentioned.

In addition to semester-long exchange opportunities, students have the option to participate in short-term Global Practicum Courses - where they spend time in the classroom deep diving into global economic topics and then visit a country to develop their knowledge through fieldwork and visits with local business leaders.

This semester students will be visiting Morocco, Chile, and Tel Aviv. Learn more about these programs below.

...So We Threw U-M Students Directly Into It.

Hundreds are reported dead, millions of dollars are on the line, and it’s up to a group of courageous University of Michigan undergraduate students to make sense of it all and respond accordingly.

It’s the annual Leadership Crisis Challenge simulation -- which kicked off this evening, sponsored by the Sanger Leadership Center here at Ross.

Participating students are now split into competing groups, each representing the executive team of Frees International, an apparel manufacturer with $8 billion a year in revenue.

A fire in one of the company’s production facilities in Bangladesh has caused significant casualties, placed the future of their next-gen shoe product in peril, and brought to light possible humanitarian issues with how the company manages its labor practices.

Students will have just over four hours to develop a response strategy and action plan to address the crisis before presenting to the company’s “Board of Directors” tomorrow morning.

But that’s not all.

While student teams are developing their plans tonight, more twists and turns will be unveiled, public outcry will worsen, more will become known about just how critical the affected product is to the company's future viability, and time will continue to slip away.

This is the first time the Leadership Crisis Challenge has been open to all students at the University of Michigan, and half of the students participating are non-business students -- meaning the diversity of experiences and backgrounds could really impact how the teams deliver on the challenge responses.

"Our students are graduating into diverse workplaces, where people have been trained to see the world from different angles, speak multiple disciplinary languages, and consider a range of factors,” said Brian Flanagan, Managing Director of the Sanger Leadership Center.

“Especially in the midst of a crisis, they must be able to leverage that diversity and lead effectively across functional areas. It's a crucial skill set, and this week will be a great trial by fire."

At various points throughout the challenge, student teams will receive feedback and lessons from Michigan Ross professors, business executives, and working journalists about their response plans, their communication skills. This feedback, along with the stresses of constantly changing situation, will turn the Leadership Crisis Challenge into one of the most engaging, powerful, and memorable learning experiences they’ll have during their U-M education.

Want to follow along as the crisis unfolds? Follow @MichiganRoss on Twitter, use the tag #RossLeaders, or check back here for updates.

“Diversity is giving voice to issues of the greater community.”

This sentiment along with several others will be on display in the Ross Winter Garden this week, as part of a #HumansOfRoss photography campaign. The event highlights the diversity of the Ross community and the importance of embracing that diversity in the classroom, at the workplace, and in society.

The photos will be on display all week as part of Diversity Week activities organized by Ross MBA students and the Ross Student Government Association. 

The week is highlighted by a diversity-focused case competition sponsored by Intel. Students will have an opportunity to manage and help solve a real-life diversity issue in the workplace, provide recommendations to Intel, and engage companies and students in a discussion about diversity issues. The competition kicks off on Feb. 12 at noon. Learn more and register.

Events kick off early next week and run through Feb. 14. Check out the complete list and registration links below.

Diversity Talks
Feb. 8 - 5-7p.m. (Robertson Auditorium)

A TEDx-style event where Ross students celebrate and explore the multifaceted concepts of diversity in a personalized way from the stage in Robertson Auditorium.

Learn More

“Ask Me Anything” Dialogue - HBSA & OFB
Feb. 9 - 1-2:30p.m. (W0770)

Students from the Hispanic Business Student Association and Ross Out for Business will highlight the differences and similarities between their communities at Ross through an intimate Q+A session.

Learn More

“Ask Me Anything” Dialogue - AABA, Greater China Club & Japanese Club
Feb. 9 - 5-6:30p.m. (R0220)

Students from the Asian American Business Association, the Greater China Association, and the Japan Business Association will discuss the diverse Asian American communities at Ross. The format will be the same as the earlier AMA Dialogue session, featuring an intimate Q+A.

Learn More

Faculty & Student Diversity Workshop
Feb. 10 - 4:30-6:30p.m. (Colloquium)

Learn useful tips and practices for communicating in diverse work environments.

Learn More

Awkward Moments
Feb. 12 - 6-7p.m. (Colloquium)

Students will confront awkward “diversity moments” in the workplace through role-playing scenarios. Through asking questions and discussing the situations, students will develop strategies on how to educate themselves and their colleagues.

Learn More

Guess Who’s Coming to Lunch
Feb. 14 - details TBA

Ross students will come together at restaurants across Ann Arbor to share a meal and discuss their experiences during the week and reflect on their personal goals.

Learn More

Learn more about the Ross Student Government Association

*Pictures courtesy of the Ross Photography Club

In the competitive universe of business education, gaining access to real world experiences and business trade tools are fundamental. University of Michigan has a deep tradition focused on leading brighter futures. Announced this week, together with Nielsen (NYSE: NSLN), Ross School of Business students will gain access to Nielsen’s Answers on Demand (AOD) Core platform and point-of-sale data. Nielsen AOD is the gold standard system used by marketing professionals around the world.   

The Ross School of Business is the first Business school nationwide to offer students access to Nielsen’s AOD Core syndicated data. Nielsen has made available its data resources to Ross, with the goal to engage, empower and foster crucial skillsets of its students, who are the next business leaders of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and retail industry. The Nielsen project is the centerpiece of a new Marketing Lab being designed at Ross. And the driving force behind the new venture is the students themselves: The idea arose a few years ago with the Marketing Club at Ross.

“Action-based learning is a cornerstone at Ross, and the relationship with Nielsen is a great example of how the school can support student ideas that provide unique real-world experiences,” says Heather Byrne, managing director of the MBA Program Office.  “The new tools will provide Ross students with a huge advantage in classes, case competitions, and preparing for internships or full-time employment.”

Students will gain access to Nielsen’s AOD Core platform and syndicated database, including total U.S. metrics for the food and beverage space. Nielsen’s current measurement universe includes: grocery, drug store, mass merchandise, convenience store, select dollar store, select warehouse clubs and military commissaries. As a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, Nielsen provides powerful analytics to some of the world's largest retailers and fast-moving consumer good brands. The insights revealed to marketers in the AOD platform help to drive strategic direction for pricing, product placement, marketing efforts and customer loyalty programs.  

The Nielsen AOD Core syndicated system will be available on a pilot basis to students in Ross MBA programs this term. Nielsen has committed to a three-year agreement, making this powerful tool available to Ross students through 2019. The plan is eventually for students in all Ross degree programs to be able to use the system.

“We are trying to give students the tools they will use in a real-world marketing role,” says club co-president Kristin Horvath (MBA ’16). “It’s typically something you have to learn on the job … one of the biggest learning curves.”

And now, instead of spending a year or more getting to know the Nielsen interface on the job, Ross graduates will be able to walk right into a marketing role with a working knowledge of the system -- and having used it with actual data.

Stefanie Schostak Hartman (BBA ’09, MBA ’16), Marketing Club VP for the Marketing Lab, has a background in brand management of consumer goods. “Where this really has usefulness for students is to prepare them to get over their ramp-up period,” she says. Even going into a different sort of industry such as technology, she adds, a student might use a different tool, but some of the skills will easily transfer.

Meanwhile, the Marketing Lab is moving forward with another new initiative: The club has purchased the Tracx social-media tool, which enables in-depth analysis of what users are saying about a particular brand. MBA students have already started using Tracx, and it was the focus of a recent case competition.

By this fall, the Marketing Lab will have its own dedicated space as part of the current Ross construction project, including a conference room, office space, and computers. The MBA Program Office will provide staff support for the lab, whose mission statement is “preparing Ross students for real-world marketing careers through action-based analysis of in-market data.”

“Marketing Lab is founded on the principle of teaching students how to turn data into insights and then turn those insights into action,” Hartman says. “That is the critical task we will all be asked to do on our first day in our marketing careers.”

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen's Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services for all devices on which content — video, audio and text — is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry's only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen also provides its clients with analytics that help improve performance.  Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries, covering more than 90% of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com. 

Learn more about the Ross Marketing Lab

After months of competition, business plan refinement, and presentations to advisors and investors, several University of Michigan students are getting a boost to kick-start their businesses.

More than 100 teams were signed up to compete in the Michigan Business Challenge, sponsored by the Zell Lurie Institute. But in the end, just four teams emerged victorious and walked away with the biggest chunk of $85,000 in prize money to help bring their business plans to reality.

Here’s what they each plan to build with that funding:

Grand Prize Winner - PreDxion

PreDxion (pronounced: Prediction), took home the grand prize at this year’s Michigan Business Challenge, winning $30,000 in seed funding for their medical device company.

Started by Caroline Landau, MBA ‘16, and Walker McHugh, MSE ‘17, PreDxion looks to help physicians easily monitor the immune responses of cancer patients as they go through immunotherapy. Something that’s harder than it should be with current technology, the team says.

“We believe that our technology will fundamentally change the way these patients are treated,” the team said. “This will allow greater success in this nascent field and even more discovery.”

Runner-Up - Gaudium

The $10,000 won by the runner-up team, Gaudium, will help the start-up entertainment company launch a new mobile game that the team says will be the first of its kind in the U.S. market.

David Cai, BS ‘16; Amanda Li, MAcc ‘16; Kevin Jeon, BS ‘16; Ni Yan, and Andrew Yang have developed a game that embodies a “fusion of Japanese art and western game play.”

“It’s a game based around anime style tank-girl characters,” the team said. “Japanese culture has developed a phenomenon of anthropomorphizing everything from household items to warships. We decided to try out our own spin of it, and deploy it locally in English.”

The team will continue the development of the game and use their MBC winnings to grow their company.
 

Social Impact Track

For the second year in a row, the Center for Social Impact, the Erb Institute, and ZLI have sponsored a social impact track for the Michigan Business Challenge, giving companies that support and promote social and environmental impact an additional chance to earn funding for their ventures.

This year’s social impact track winners won more than $20,000 for their businesses - here’s how that money will make an impact:

Grand Prize Winner - Kulisha

Kulisha, from Eric Katz, BBA ‘17, took home the top prize in the social impact track, earning $15,000 to help launch his aquafeed company.

Kulisha produces a sustainable, commercial grade fish feed that will help divert food waste from ending up in landfills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help stop trawling.

Designed to help small-scale aquaculture farmers in Kenya, Katz says the Kulisha product has the potential to increase farmers’ yields, help improve profitability, and supply more food to the region.

“The Michigan Business Challenge has given us mentorship and guidance to create a business plan that we can execute on,” said Katz.
 

Social Impact Track Runner-Up - StepFor

StepFor, developed by Jordan Golshan, BBA ‘17; Andy Jinseok Lee, MS ‘17; and Hyorim Kim, BS ‘17, received $7,500 for their runner-up placement in the social impact track of the MBC.

Their company looks to turn daily steps into charitable contributions. Building an app that interfaces with many fitness and activity trackers like Fitbit, StepFor will allow users to support causes of their choice while going about their daily activities.

Other winners include:
Best Business Plan - Gaudium
Outstanding Presentation Awards - Sage & Grace, AOE Medical
Marketing Awards - CARt (social impact track team), Gaudium
Most Successful Undergraduate Team - AOE Medical
Williamson Award - PreDxion

As a co-founder of Facebook, director of online organizing for the 2008 Obama campaign, and majority owner of The New Republic, Chris Hughes has been deeply involved in some of the most dramatic developments in business over the last 12 years.

So what’s been most surprising about his entrepreneurial journey? “Across the board, the surprise that never fails to return, again and again, is the scope of the challenge,” he told an audience at the Ross School of Business on Monday. “It’s always harder than you think.”

Hughes shared his thoughts on entrepreneurship and his experiences with a packed house in Robertson Auditorium as part of the Joseph Handleman Lecture Series. He answered questions from Dean Alison Davis-Blake in a fireside-chat-like format, and also took some questions from the audience.

One recurring theme: Successful entrepreneurship requires a number of factors, including, of course, the right product. But perhaps most important of all, he said, is unwavering dedication.

“Grit and determination,” he said when asked what’s needed. “You’ve got to be obsessed … You can’t just want to build the company. You have to feel that you have to build the company.”

He addressed the growing startup culture in Detroit, saying that on several visits to the area in the last few years, “I find it so energizing.” He noted that Detroit, like better-known entrepreneurial hot spots, boasts a strong core of talent and academia. “But what’s not in the other places … is the spirit of community and the sense of civic commitment,” he said. The idea that working in Detroit is helping to create a stronger city is an important differentiator, he said. However, the city does need more capital and more expertise: “All these things are happening, but it does still feel nascent.”

He concluded by encouraging the audience to think about entrepreneurial values more broadly than they may be used to, applying them to not just startup companies, but also to nonprofits and even government service agencies.

Some other thoughts from his experiences:

Facebook and Social Networks

“It’s not exactly what you saw in The Social Network,” Hughes said of the company’s startup days. He looks back at that time as simply a few undergrads who had a good idea that found the right spark and the proper cultivation.

The core concept of Facebook was fairly straightforward, he noted. “The real challenge was turning it into a successful company, which doesn’t happen on day one, or day two, but takes years.”

Asked about his most difficult decision at the time, he recalled the offer from Yahoo in 2006 to buy the company for $1 billion. Mark Zuckerberg ultimately made the call not to sell. “I was on the wrong side of history on that, and man, am I glad he was on the right side,” Hughes said.

The Obama Campaign and Online Activism

Hughes saw Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign as “a moment in time that would not reoccur”-- an inspiring candidate with remarkable grassroots support, at a time when online networking was just beginning to show its power. “That was a very unique time in American politics.”

There were technological challenges, he said, but “the bigger challenge was making sure people heard the message … and then inspiring them to self-organize.”

Nowadays, that organizing is commonplace, on countless existing platforms and services. Today’s candidates fully understand that online networking is empowering and helps amplify their message. He said of Republican hopeful Donald Trump, “Whatever you think of him, he’s a masterful user of Twitter.”

He added that efforts like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge show the broader power of online networking: “It’s not just about politics; it’s about activism and social change in general.” When the right message meets the right platform, he said, “it can explode.”

The New Republic and Online Journalism

In 2012, Hughes undertook an effort to modernize and digitally expand the storied general-interest magazine The New Republic and became its majority owner. Most recently, he announced that he was putting the magazine up for sale.

“You could say I’m a glutton for punishment,” he said of his decision to enter the difficult world of 21st century journalism. “It’s hard. It’s a big, big challenge.”

He still sees signs of hope for the survival of traditional media, but he does expect more consolidation in the industry. With The New Republic, he feels that good progress has been made, but it became clear either a larger parent company or “a longer runway” would be required to bring about real change.

He noted that while today’s readers often scan headlines, they are always willing to delve deeply into the right story. Length aside, if it’s the right topic, treated properly, and written well, “it will get read.”

The Joseph Handleman Lecture Series was established at Ross in 2013 through the generosity of the Joseph and Sally Handleman Charitable Foundation. The series features some of the nation’s top executives as they discuss hot-button topics and how their personal and professional journeys have impacted their views on those topics.

This post originally appeared on the Next Billion blog, an initiative of the University of Michigan’s William Davidson Institute. Read the original post by Amy Gillett.

From a spinning scarecrow that sends animal intruders scurrying off the crops to an eco-friendly shelter that helps grow spores into mushrooms, there is no shortage of innovation in Tanzania’s agricultural sector. But what has traditionally been lacking is the business knowledge to nurture these creative products and help them blossom into sustainable businesses.

This is where the Innovations in Gender Equality to Promote Household Food Security (IGE) program comes in. A joint venture between USAID and Land O’Lakes International Development launched in 2012, IGE’s mission is to identify, test and then scale innovations that enable female farmers to more efficiently produce agricultural products and bring them to market. Over half of the agricultural workers in Tanzania are women. Not only do women carry out some of the most labor-intensive work, but they also have insufficient access to financial credit and face discrimination in land ownership. The IGE project seeks to address these hurdles and help women spend less time in the field and more time in higher-value added activities.

Thousands of miles from Dar es Salaam, IGE project headquarters, Diana Callaghan, an MBA student at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, was in the market for a summer internship. Deeply interested in the potential business has for making change in the world, Callaghan did not want a traditional MBA internship experience – she was seeking an innovative alternative. When she heard about the IGE project in early 2015, she thought it would be an ideal opportunity to apply her studies in entrepreneurship and social impact as well as her previous work experience in consulting. The William Davidson Institute (WDI), the center at the University of Michigan focused on business in emerging markets, was sponsoring the internship.

Callaghan’s work focused on equipping both male and female entrepreneurs in agriculture with the business skills needed to professionalize and scale their businesses. IGE has an effective process for finding the entrepreneurs with the highest potential to participate in the program. They organize business expos during which the entrepreneurs showcase their products. Selected entrepreneurs then advance to the next phase and pitch their ideas before a panel of judges that includes seasoned entrepreneurs and investors. The top performers in each pitch competition are then eligible for an IGE grant and training program.

Callaghan got to know the participants and their business challenges. She traveled to their places of business with IGE staff to familiarize herself with their operations and challenges firsthand. She was impressed by the great ideas and innovations, but quickly realized the need for cultural understanding in designing a locally viable business model.

She met Judith Muro, a member of the Dar es Salaam Mushroom Growers Association (DMGA), who designed innovative mushroom-growing technologies utilizing years of academic and professional experience she accrued traveling the globe and learning about mushroom cultivation. As part of her business, Muro created and built her own structures for growing mushrooms from spores. The eco-friendly shelters struck Callaghan as a real innovation, but rather than selling them, Muro taught others how to construct the structures. The mushroom seller told Callaghan that there was no point in trying to sell them, as others would just steal the design of her product. Intellectual property is not easily secured in Tanzania.

Through her visits with other entrepreneurs, Callaghan was able to identify gaps in their business knowledge. For example, some of the entrepreneurs had no accounting systems and little understanding about their cost structures. As a result, they had set their prices much too low to run a sustainable business. Callaghan also noticed that while many of the entrepreneurs had innovative technologies, their revenue models prevented them from scaling successfully. For example, certain entrepreneurs were marketing high-cost innovations to customers who could not afford them. Callaghan suggested alternative revenue approaches such as subscription-based, rental and community shared models that could allow customers easier access.

To further assess the skills the entrepreneurs were lacking, Callaghan created a needs assessment. Entrepreneurs answered such questions as: What need does your innovation address? What is your profit per unit? What problems are you facing in your business? It also asked the entrepreneurs to rate their knowledge across the various business functions.

How did Callaghan know how to create this comprehensive assessment? At the Ross School of Business, she also is the director of investments for the Social Venture Fund, the first student-led impact investing fund. An aspiring entrepreneur herself, Callaghan had also been through the Zell Lurie Institute’s (ZLI) Dare to Dream entrepreneurship competition and has been actively involved with the institute. ZLI is part of the Ross School and focuses on entrepreneurship, offering business plan competitions for students. She borrowed questions from the program’s educational materials and expanded on them based on her field research.

Now familiar with the business culture and needs of the entrepreneurs, Callaghan turned to designing the entrepreneurship training workshop. The project included a program designed by a WDI intern from the previous year. Callaghan used that as a starting point, applied what she learned from her travels and the needs assessment, and took input from the IGE staff to redesign it. The staff gave her many insights, including a suggestion to include more visual components so that the training could be understood by illiterate students and those with limited knowledge of English. Callaghan added graphics as well as a set of engaging videos on business model development from YouTube. Callaghan combed through the training material she had received as a participant in the Dare to Dream competition and added some of that content to her curriculum. It included introduction to the business model canvas, a strategic tool that enables the description and design of a business model. She also provided training to local staff on how to deliver the workshops.

Callaghan is currently back in Ann Arbor as a second-year MBA, student but the training workshops she designed are still being delivered.

“Spending a summer traveling across Tanzania and working with entrepreneurs on the development of impactful technologies was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to share insight from my professional experience and my academic experiences at Ross with many of these great entrepreneurs. I hope that the business trainings and workshops will continue to support entrepreneurs as they develop sustainable, impactful innovations that improve the lives of women,” she told me.

“I loved working with a wide variety of change agents in such a creative role,” she added.

Read the original post on Next Billion

Learn more about WDI Internships

That’s a lot! Look, we’re not kidding around when it comes to social impact. At Ross, we fundamentally believe business can and should make the world a better place.

Our Center for Social Impact is just one embodiment of this commitment, and it serves as a gateway to the many, many activities and opportunities that we’ve been developing for years.

Listed here, in no particular order, are more than 100 social-impact-themed programs, clubs, action-based activities, and classes for you to explore.

With so many opportunities to make an impact, we probably missed something. So drop us a line in the comments to let us know, and we’ll add it in.

India's Tata Group is composed of more than 100 independent companies in more than 100 countries. Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors, Tata Communications, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, and Indian Hotels are among the many group companies that brought in a total of $108 billion in revenue in 2014-15. And, amazingly, the group employs more than 611,700 people.

Developing talent in such a large-scale operation can be daunting, but Tata established a corporate management training center back in 1966 that has been successfully preparing high-potential and high-performing leaders to assume greater responsibilities ever since. Consistent with the organization's innovative and forward-thinking spirit, Tata Group HR proposed augmenting its existing portfolio of courses with a unique learning experience for senior leaders to be run in partnership with a top university.

In 2005, Tata approached the Ross School of Business to jointly create and deliver a customized executive education program, and the rest was history. Members from the Ross team including Business Development Manager Hari Athawale and faculty members including (late) Professor C.K. Prahalad and Professor Wayne Brockbank worked alongside Dr. Bowender, Mr. Satish Pradhan, and Mr. Bimal Rath from Tata and established a solid relationship that has continued to flourish for an entire decade. In fact, Ross Executive Education celebrated and delivered its 25th consecutive program for Tata in September 2015.

Scott DeRue, associate dean of Executive Education, commends this partnership and says, "Tata is a world-class organization that is committed to its employees, and we are proud to be its partner in leadership and people development."

Chief Executive Education Officer Melanie Weaver Barnett says, "The highly collaborative, long-term executive education partnerships we share with Tata and other organizations set Michigan Ross apart from other providers. We become true business partners, and we take great pride in the effective and enduring relationships we've established with companies around the world."

A Long History in India

Ross has been offering open enrollment executive education programs in India since 1994, and Tata executives were a regular fixture in Ross' Global Program for Management Development before the company's custom program was established in 2004. After receiving positive feedback from its executives, Tata asked Ross to design a program to complement its own portfolio of leadership courses, and C.K. Prahalad and Wayne Brockbank worked closely with the organization to create the Tata Group Executive Leadership Seminar (TGELS).

Prahalad was instrumental in increasing Ross' engagement in India. A world-renowned business thinker, Prahalad developed revolutionary innovations in strategy and management which he called "next practices," and pioneered the Base of the Pyramid concept. Prahalad's sessions were cited as highlights of the TGELS program by early participants, underscoring his impact not just as a thinker and researcher, but also as a teacher and mentor.

The Evolution of Michigan-Tata TGELS

To create TGELS, Ross worked with Tata to establish learning objectives and brainstormed ways to bridge the gap between where the company's leaders are and where they need to be in the future. Seminars take place in nine-day blocks in Pune, India, or on campus at Ross in Ann Arbor. When the program launched in 2004, it was held annually in Pune, but heavy demand brought on by an expanding Indian economy and the growth of Tata Group itself led to the addition of a second program each year by 2006.

As word spread, the program became so popular that a wait list was established, and in 2009 a third program was added. Currently, TGELS is offered twice yearly in Pune and annually in Ann Arbor. Each seminar hosts between 30 and 40 executives who have been nominated by their respective Tata companies.  

The executives examine competitive strategies and how to win in the marketplace. Case studies, discussions, and action-based learning activities encourage the Tata execs to question assumptions and battle overconfidence. Executives deepen their understanding of their company's place within the larger group of Tata companies as well as in the broader business environment.

TGELS covers the following subjects:

• Strategy – Participants explore how to develop strategy within the context of the overall business.
• Finance – Students delve into value creation and capital, and look at finance from the perspective of shareholders and internal stakeholders.
• HR – Executives learn about talent management, coping with change, and aligning HR strategy with business strategy.
• Marketing – Participants examine their business from the consumer's perspective.
• Technology and Innovation – The group learns how disruptive technology has changed every aspect of business and looks for ways to use innovation as a competitive advantage.
• Emerging market strategies – Beginning with Prahalad's Base of the Pyramid concept, participants expand their knowledge of emerging markets and learn about new frameworks to compete in these industries.
• Leadership – Tata Management Training Centre faculty teach behavioral leadership and encourage reflection and self-analysis.

Professor M.S. Krishnan, who has been the faculty director for the program for more than ten years, teaches the program alongside M.P. Narayanan, Gautam Ahuja, Wayne Brockbank, Venkatram Ramaswamy, Rajeev Batra, and John Branch. Both Krishnan and Narayanan have long histories with Tata, having taught in every program since 2004.

Professor Narayanan says, "I have taught in the TGELS program since its inception and have enjoyed every facet of it. The class discussions are always animated and thoughtful, and the program brings in senior executives with a tremendous interest in what I teach — finance."

The General Manager Agenda

TGELS participants engage in an action-based learning project, the General Manager Agenda, which requires them to work in small groups to come up with project ideas on business opportunities in enhancing customer engagement, reaching new markets, and improving efficiency through process improvements for Tata companies. The teams apply what they've learned in class to strategize what changes they could implement to save time, reduce costs, improve the customer experience, or otherwise benefit Tata, and present their findings on the last day.

A number of GM Agenda projects have been successfully implemented in Tata companies. The mKRISHI Rural Service Delivery Platform is one example. Teams from Tata Consultancy, Tata Communication, Rallis India, and Tata Chemicals leveraged their respective strengths and collaborated to create a business model to provide rural farmers with hyperlocal data and insights on cultivation practices, pesticides usage, and weather.

Krishnan says, "Engaging in action-based learning activities with colleagues from other Tata companies strengthens internal networks and encourages creativity and collaboration across the broader organization. One TGELS team worked on a project for Titan, a leading manufacturer of watches, jewelry, and eyewear. They discovered that contextual design ideas are sometimes lost between the customer and managers. The team proposed a concept to leverage technology and capture customer insights in real time in their retail outlets using free-format idea gathering platforms on a tablet computer. This concept was piloted and later implemented for capturing customer insights.

"Another project brought Indian Hotels and Tata Communications together to offer videoconferencing services at the Taj Hotels to small and medium enterprises using the Cisco Telepresence technology on a pay-per-use basis in partnership with Cisco. Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) was reviewed by another team to include business innovation as a capability in addition to traditional quality, organizational process, and performance metrics."

"Since TGELS brings in executives from a very diverse set of businesses, it affords the faculty the opportunity to discuss a wide variety of issues. It also provides participants cross-learning opportunities to benefit from each other's expertise," Narayanan says. "It is gratifying to see projects initiated by teams composed of executives from different Tata companies."

A Long-term Learning Partner

The program's enduring success has been driven by a constant push for improvement from Ross faculty and staff. Ross and Tata meet frequently for critical reviews of the program to discuss what is working and identify areas for improvement. Faculty are deeply involved in the process and solicit feedback from participants to ensure the program continues to make a strong impact on individuals and their companies.

Tata Management Training Centre Director Emmanuel David recognizes the strategic nature of this program. He says, "Enduring partnerships built on shared ethos creates mutual value. This is an important partnership that is building leaders who will drive the Group’s future aspirations.”

The longevity of the program is unique to Ross and to Tata. Krishnan explains, "Tata Group's custom executive education program is the longest engagement in the history of both Tata Group and Michigan Ross. We are extremely proud of this partnership and are determined to continue to make TGELS a pivotal point in the progression of the Group's senior leaders."

Tata Group Chief Human Resources Officer Dr. N.S. Rajan sums up the program's guiding philosophy: "Character defines destiny. Learn more than you earn, and deserve more than you desire."

Learn more about Ross Executive Education

This week, 407 Full-Time Ross MBAs will start work on a series of projects tackling real-life business challenges for 73 corporations and nonprofit organizations.

The Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) course will send first-year MBA students across the world to work on projects ranging from finance and marketing to strategy and operations, all spanning the industries of tech, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and more.

This is the 24th year for Ross MAP, which debuted as a first-of-its-kind, action-based learning experience for MBA students in 1992. Since its launch, Ross students have worked on more than 1,900 projects in 97 countries with 1,329 different corporate and nonprofit sponsors, bringing creative solutions directly to company executives. As the hallmark of the Ross MBA degree, the MAP experience remains one of the most extensive and intensive action-based programs of its kind.

This year, students will be traveling to work in 21 different countries. In addition to the United States, students will begin traveling to Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Finland, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

The technology sector is well-represented in the lineup of projects this year, with multiple student teams working with Amazon, Facebook, Expedia, Oracle, NVIDIA, Dell, HP, Intel, and more.

In addition, this year’s MAP program includes:

• Capital One, New York– The team will create a brand new digital commercial bank strategy to help Capital One reimagine commercial banking in a digital world
• Shared-X, Peru– The team will research and write a feasibility study for Shared-X to vertically integrate its coffee business
• General Motors, San Francisco, New York, Chicago– The team will develop a full business case and deployment strategy for an innovative ride sharing service
• Make-A-Wish, Phoenix– The team will formulate strategic planning and resource modeling tools to help Make-A-Wish achieve its goal of reaching 17,000 children annually by 2020

A full list of projects will be available and searchable on the Ross website in the near future.

If you’d like to follow along on the journey, students from several of the teams will be blogging about their experience on the Ross Student Voices Blog, and you can keep up to date on the projects in this year’s #RossMAP experience by following @MichiganRoss on Twitter and Instagram.

Learn More About Ross MAP

Ross’ emphasis on action-based learning just paid off big time for three BBAs and a teammate from the College of Engineering. Congratulations to Chelsea Racelis, Keishiro Iwasaki, Jay Parekh, and Sonia Thosar, this year’s winners of the KPMG U.S. National Case Competition. This is the second year in a row that a U-M team took top national honors.

In addition to studying the practice cases sent by KPMG, the team was able to leverage a number of experiences at Ross and U-M. These four stood out as particularly helpful:

• Nexecon Consulting Group - Not only did this year’s KPMG dream team meet in this student-run consulting group, but they also heard about the contest from fellow Nexecon members.
• Strategy 290 - Frameworks from this class helped the team to better organize and deliver content.
• Crisis Challenge - Several team members were able to practice performing under pressure and exercising good judgment in this signature Ross leadership test.
• Intel Diversity Case Competition - Some of the KPMG Case Competition team members participated in this challenging examination of real-world issues focused on diversity and inclusion.

What’s next after winning the Super Bowl of case contests? Disney World will have to wait, because this team is headed to Dubai. There, they’ll compete in the KPMG International Case Competition from April 11-16. The team will work with a mentor from KPMG before going head-to-head with talented teams from 22 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Serbia, and the United Kingdom.

Learn more about action-based learning at Ross