Archive for August, 2010

Each trimester, Thunderbird students, staff and alumni participate in ThunderCares day, a day of service that benefits several local charities. This trimester, T-birds helped out at Tiger Mountain community garden, Turn A New Leaf domestic violence shelter, Sun Valley Animal Shelter and St. Vincent De Paul food bank. ThunderCares day began in 2006 as a way to connect T-birds to the local community, and has since gone global as alumni carry on the tradition. Check out our photo album from Summer 2010 Thundercares. Kudos this year to Thunderbird MBA student Samir Bathija who helped organize the event!

More about past ThunderCares days here and here.

The following post on corporate strategy is written by  Bruno Aguilar, Alvaro Martin del Campo, Cesar Palma, Kelly Sheridan, and Jacqueline Peihui Xu.

With a slowdown in the global PC industry in 2009 a number of the leading multinational corporations (MNCs) have chosen to focus their efforts on cost-cutting measures.  Although this can enhance short-term profit margins, it also reflects a level of corporate complacency to develop long-term sustainable strategies.  Quick fix solutions can plague the “global giant,” who are often too big to move, too heavy to adapt, and to slow to innovate.  While the notion of global giant is often type casted on to American and European MNCs, a closer look at Lenovo –  the Chinese PC leader (and #4 global PC manufacturer) – shows that they are looking for a longer term solution.  With a focus on innovation and operations, they have made significant strides to go not just global, but transnational.  Should Lenovo also invest and capitalize on a consistent marketing strategy, they may be very well positioned to lead the global PC industry.

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By Jeremy Macdonald, MBA 2011

Today I presented my results to the VP of product demand, and his boss, the VP of Supply Chain. There is only one person between him and the billionaires that own the company. Though we have previously met, this still feels like a high pressure situation. Public speaking and presenting results is not an intimidating process for me. The Question & Answer period was more challenging, but overall I am glad that we (interns) have this chance. The act of presenting helps me feel like I have really done something and now people know about it.

A lot of interns at Amway know before there internship ends whether or not they have received an offer of full time employment. I do not know if that will be the case for me. My internship was typical length, but it started sooner and thus ended sooner than most of their interns. Pins and needles. As we prepare to move our family home, I find myself reflecting on my time at Amway. Did I make the most of it? If not, why not? Whether or not the internship was a success depends more on personal growth and experiences than on job offers. This entry is starting to feel a little melodramatic.

Big takeaways:

Project Management at Amway is very different than my experience in the construction industry. It is more formal and more rigorous. Here we use PM tools as progress markers. In my previous experiences we only used them to reach one specific deadline, the finished house.

Driving results is more important than being someone’s best friend. We have to balance rapport and team building with team success. Even an intern can make a huge impact.

Work and school are different. Maybe this seems obvious, but transitioning back to full-time employment after 9 months in school was strenuous. For my job after this I will really be prepared to make an impact on the first day.