Competition for a Good Cause

“All the single ladies! All the single ladies!” How do you pause a crab-walk relay and start a short dance party where MBA students and Special Olympic athletes from all over the country are gathered for a very special occasion? Well, you just ask! And that is precisely what Bradford, one of the Wake Forest MBA team’s Special Olympic athletes, did last weekend at the 2010 MBA games … and subsequently started a brief dance party right in the middle of the relay! One Beyonce finished, crab-walking resumed.

Sponsored by Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and located on Duke’s east campus fields, the 2010 MBA Games was weekend of both fun and challenging events – all in honor of and to raise money for Special Olympics. Wake Forest University sent a team that included full-time students, an evening student, and a spouse; the group included Diego Espinoza, Traci Lee, Matt Starker, Matt Phillips, Jeff Hayes, Kelly Hayes, Ian Jankelowitz, Martha Ferger, and Molly Nunn – and two Special Olympic athletes, Ben and Bradford.

The event began on Friday night where teams gathered and competed in a skit competition and then on Saturday morning, the games began! Starting at 7 am, there was a 5k race followed by the opening ceremony around 8:30am. Teams competed in a wide range of events from cornhole, to the football throw, to the three-legged/wheel barrow business suit race, to the egg toss, soccer shoot-out, brief case toss, tug-o-war, dizzy bat, and all the way to water events. Phew! There was an intense spirit of competition during the day, but it was overshadowed by the unique experience of being able to spend time and get to know our athletes. It was an honor to be a part of their day and work with them through each of the athletic challenges.

Once the day was winding down, there was a closing ceremony in which each of the athletes was called up, one-by-one, to receive their medals. We were able to meet and exchange emails with one of our athlete’s parents and later that night, there was a banquet to commemorate and close the weekend. Overall, it was a truly wonderful experience that not only included bonding as a Wake Forest team but also having the opportunity to get to know two fine Special Olympic athletes and gentlemen. I cannot wait until next year’s games.

-Molly Nunn

Wake Students Win Case Competition in Greece

A team of four Wake Forest University undergraduate accountancy and finance students won the KPMG Global Case Competition in Athens. The competition, which took place April 7 – 9, included teams from 11 countries.
Representing the U.S. in the competition were senior Andrea Kensy of Upper Holland, Pa.; juniors Swayze Smartt of Dallas, and Zachary Zimbile of Allenwood, N.J.; and sophomore Louis Brotherton of Seattle.
The team performed well in the first round and advanced to the finals, competing against teams from France, Sweden, and Germany. There were also teams from Russia, the United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, Spain, Luxemburg, and the Czech Republic.
The Wake Forest team qualified for the international competition by winning the national round of the KPMG Global Case Competition in January.
Dean of Business, Steve Reinemund, said,"I am extremely proud of this Wake Forest student team for their tremendous accomplishment, and our talented faculty for their unmatched commitment to share their knowledge and help students excel and become leaders amongst their peers.”
"These students represented Wake Forest and themselves extremely well," Yvonne Hinson, Wake Forest Schools of Business associate professor of accountancy who directs the undergraduate and graduate accountancy programs, said. "We could not possibly be more proud of Andrea, Louis, Swayze, and Zachary. Their hard work has certainly paid off and we look forward to celebrating with them when they return."
The entire Wake Forest community would like to congratulate the team on their outstanding accomplishment! To honor their accomplishment, President Hatch, Dean Reinemund and others help a celebration on April 12 outside Wait Chapel.


Undergraduate business students from Wake Forest University, (left to right) Zach Zimbile, Louis Brotherton, Andrea Kensy and Swayze Smartt are named world champions after winning the KPMG Global Case Competition in Greece.

A Turnaround Story

On April 12, Steve Fairbanks, the president of Iowa Mold Tooling, will share his experiences about the strategy and processes he used to turn around IMT. Do not miss this opportunity to hear about successful strategies/processes from the perspective of an industry leader! Please stay after the event to enjoy food and networking opportunities.

 

KPMG Chair to Discuss Trust, Confidence and Opportunities

Timothy Flynn, the chairman of KPMG International, will deliver the 23rd Hylton Lecture at Wake Forest University, with a speech called, “Restoring Trust, Building Confidence, Seizing Opportunities.”
Flynn will speak on Thursday, April 15 from 4:45-6 pm in Carswell Hall’s Annenberg Forum on campus. The lecture, hosted by the Wake Forest Schools of Business, is free and open to the public.
Flynn, who also chairs KPMG, has held key leadership positions throughout the company and currently serves as client-service partner for several of KPMG’s largest clients. Member firms for KPMG International have more than 140,000 professionals in 146 countries.
According to his bio, Flynn is dedicated to creating a values-driven culture that helps fulfill KPMG’s “Promise of Professionalism” to its people, its clients and the capital markets it serves. In 2008 he served on the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession, established by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson Jr. The committee made recommendations to foster a more sustainable auditing profession. Flynn also has been named to the National Association of Corporate Directors’ 2009 Directorship 100 roster, as well as Accounting Today’s 2009 list of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. He has spoken on leadership, ethics and integrity at several colleges and universities, including Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, Fordham, Howard, Wharton School of Business and Yale.
The Hylton Lecture Series in Accountancy was established in 1980 to honor Delmar P. Hylton, who started Wake Forest’s accountancy program in 1949 and helped build it into one of the top accounting programs in the nation.

Reflections for the MA Program

With a little over a month to go in the MA Program, I encourage you to reflect on just how far you have come in nine short months. Think about what you accomplished in your Action Learning Projects, the Excel and general modeling skills you developed in your Quantitative Business Modeling course, and how much better you understand the job search process.

In addition to establishing new friendships that for some of you may last the rest of your life, you have come a long way toward developing a solid foundation in the fundamental of business.  

With the weather turning warmer and the light at the end of the tunnel fast approaching, I challenge each of you to raise your intensity and finish out the program with everything you have.  It saddens me to report that in the last couple of weeks I have heard more negative comments from faculty and staff about the MA Program than positive comments which has definitely not been the norm. For example, I have had reports of large numbers of students missing classes, apathy on the part of MA students for attending events, students not responding to email, students being disrespectful of one another, and even a MA student who cancelled an interview with an on-campus recruiter the day of the scheduled interview. All of these reflect poorly on the MA Program.  Through the MA Program, you are making a substantial investment in yourself. There is a insidious disease lurking called Seniorititis.  Don’t let it shortchange the investment you are making in your personal development. 

Finally, in closing if your team has not already lined up a time to meet with me for breakfast, lunch or dinner, please do so at your earliest convenience.

~Scott Shafer

In With the New…

As the academic year nears its conclusion, the leadership of several clubs is passing the torch on to the next class. Here are a few notable announcements from the past week:

Erik Welker (right) will become the president of the Healthcare Club for 2010-2011. Jim Arenschield is the new  communications director and Will Partin is set to become the logistics coordinator. Nancy Rinehart was tapped to be the first healthcare conference and case competition liaison.

“We know that next year’s leaders will continue expanding the presence of the Healthcare Club and Concentration,” the outgoing officers said in an email to the student body.

WGWIB (formerly the Babcock Women in Business) announced that Ahkesha Murray (left), one of our bloggers, will preside over the group over the next year. Sandie Taylor, who has contributed to our side, is the new vice president. Katie Knarr is the vice president of finance.

“These women will do an excellent job in continuing the success of WGWIB and making it even better,” the group said in a release.

Elevator Competition: A Few Last Thoughts

This year’s Elevator Competition was an amazing experience!

A week has passed since the event has ended, giving me enough time to reflect on the excitement that took place. Perhaps the most thrilling part of the weekend involved riding along in the elevators, watching hopeful entrepreneurs rapidly fire off stats and details to judges, who never hesitated to ask questions.

Wait, maybe the best part was sitting in the boardroom, as one of the finalists was able to present to an attentive audience of venture capitalists, professors and business leaders. I came away impressed at how these students kept their poise and even found moments for humor under such stressful circumstances.

Then again, it was rewarding to meet most of the 34 teams who pitched their business plans, ranging from SECA Productions, who were making their first appearance at a national competition, to others who had been in many contests but never one as fast as this. I enjoyed getting to know the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, pitching everything from water products in East Africa to software systems designed to help college coaches with recruiting.

Finally, the evening gala was a first-class event. Congratulations to GlucaGo and AutismSphere for taking the top honors. Seeing everyone relax and network after running the gauntlet of pitches and presentations was fulfilling. Making lasting contacts with representatives of other schools and meeting the judges was a highly anticipated part of my weekend. Overall, I may be unable to decide what was the best part of the Elevator Competition, though I am looking forward to conducting more research during next year’s event.

~ Paul Davis