Archive for the ‘News, Updates and Events’ Category

Naomi Gunnels ’11 was Vice President of the Thunderbird Entrepreneurship Network (TEN) when  she discovered Lemonade Day.   Lemonade Day introduces kids to entrepreneurship through the front yard lemonade stand.  Naomi and a crew of classmates came in contact with 1,400 kids ages 3-17 to engage them in Lemonade Day.  T-birds spent several Saturdays mentoring kids about how to run a business including marketing, signage, and money management that involved in running a lemonade stand.

National Lemonade Day was May 1^st and lemonade stands popped up throughout Glendale and surrounding communities.  Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs came out and tasted lemonade from several stands to determine the “Best Tasting Lemonade.” Naomi and her Thunderbird team raised $16,000 from a variety of organizations and businesses to bring Lemonade Day to Glendale.   Thunderbird currently holds the only Lemonade Day license in the state of Arizona.

(Photo: Glendale Mayor  Elaine Scruggs (l) with Naomi and a Lemonade Day participant.)

Health care professionals work in a fast-growing sector full of opportunity for innovation, but many industry leaders lack the business skills necessary to harness and commercialize their entrepreneurial spirit. To help close the gap between the emergency room and boardroom, Thunderbird School of Global Management will launch a 10-week open enrollment course for health care practitioners, administrators, researchers and students starting May 11, 2011.

The evening courses at the Arizona Heart Foundation in Phoenix will feature faculty from the world’s No. 1 school in international business — as well as notable health care practitioners with entrepreneurial experience.

“As a health care professional, it is often difficult for you to move into the world of business and the world of commercializing your innovation,” said Thunderbird Professor Steven Stralser, Ph.D., academic director of the program and a faculty member at the school’s Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship. “Those talents are very different than what made you a good physician.”
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By Amanda Bullough, Ph.D.

Thunderbird has carved out a niche expertise in educating women entrepreneurs in developing countries.  I have specifically been working with our women entrepreneurs programs in Afghanistan and Peru.  We recently had over 20 Afghan women on campus here in Glendale, Arizona for two weeks and I had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with the ladies.  Not only am I the Academic Director of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women programs in these countries, but I am also doing research on women entrepreneurs operating in adverse conditions. 

 While they were here, I invited the Afghan businesswomen to focus groups interviews of 6 to 7 people each so that we could begin to better understand what makes them tick. Why?  Because, the idea of entrepreneurship as vital for development efforts and for peace-building is a large focus for learning institutions and governmental and nongovernmental communities.  In particular, research on entrepreneurship in adverse conditions is relatively scarce and necessary if we are to be useful as educators and policy makers and increase our understanding of entrepreneurship.

By speaking with these women, I wanted to better understand why they choose to buck the established social norms and start and lead business when it’s so dangerous do so.  Interestingly, in an obvious display of humility and respect for their fellow Afghan women, who have all endured tremendous hardship and challenges, none of the women would acknowledge themselves as special.  However, we know they are, because not all Afghan women do indeed engage in the economy or in leadership. We are in the process of uncovering that these ladies have a unique sense of determination, drive, passion, and a thirst for making their communities and countries better for other Afghan women and for their children.  I stand in awe of them and they have my respect and admiration for their strength. 

The next research question to tackle will be, are Afghan businesswomen actually stronger than women in other countries, because of the hardships they’ve endured?

 In addition to what I learned from these powerful ladies, I will also comment on their demeanor while in our country these weeks, many for the first time.  They carried themselves with the utmost dignity and respect.  They worked together to absorb the business training they were getting from their mentors and the Thunderbird faculty.  They were appreciative and thankful, sweet, inspiring, and all-around positive forces to be around.  These strong and wilful ladies brought smiles to the faces of Thunderbird faculty, staff, and students all over campus, and pride to the whole community when they held their heads high at graduation.  We are a proud community here at Thunderbird to be able to both educate and learn from these remarkable ladies.  

 Amanda Bullough Ph.D. is the Academic Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative and an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and  Management and Organizational Behavior at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Dr. Bullough’s research focus is on women and their potential to be economic producers and business leaders in the developing world.

All Jonathan Hegranes needed was a launching pad for his business idea. The Thunderbird MBA student had spent more than 200 hours developing a concept, writing a business plan and recruiting a team to support him. His opportunity came when the Thunderbird Entrepreneurship Network announced the Thunderbird Global Business Plan Competition, with cash startup awards for the winner’s business. Hegranes’ idea was Turbo 140, a micro-job marketplace that will match people offering small jobs, or “gigs,” with people willing to do the tasks for negotiated fees. What will set the site apart is that all gigs, such as taking down Christmas lights, painting a fence or moving a fridge, will have to be posted in 140 characters or less.
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By Robert Hisrich, Walker Center director

I am thrilled to be in Vienna serving as the keynote speaker at the commencement of the graduating class for the Technology University here in Austria. Given my long entrepreneurial and academic history in Austria and Hungary, I am honored by the request. The technologies being developed here are promising and among the leading new ideas in the technology world.

Join more than 75 private equity professionals for a New York City forum on “Financing Trends in Clean Tech Venture: Risks & Opportunities.” Despite poor market conditions and a challenging exit environment, clean tech venture investment is happening. Who is investing in clean technology? What strategies should clean technology companies employ to attract capital? What technologies and sectors are attractive for venture capitalists? What role will government play in financing clean technology development? The Global Private Equity Forum will be 8 to 10:30 a.m. Sept. 23 at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP. Register at www.thunderbird.edu/TPEC.

By Katherine Hutton, Walker Center managing director

I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with three jet lagged students who are joining the Thunderbird student body this trimester.

Two of the students – Ahmad and Rawan – are part of the of the ongoing Maharat certificate program through the Jordanian Business Development Center in Amman. They made the journey from Amman with a stopover in New York, spending most of their time absorbing Times Square. They will both be on campus taking courses in Global State and Markets, Global Enterprise and Cross Cultural Communications.  The third student, Reem, is here on the Queen Rania scholarship to pursue a full Master’s degree.

The students were full of questions about the weather — when it would get cooler – their peers, their coursework, where to shop and American culture.

Jordan lacks the oil of other Middle Eastern countries. So the small kingdom north of Saudi Arabia focuses instead on developing human resources more than natural resources. The strategy has produced an increasing number of entrepreneurs ready to tackle the challenges of a global economic crisis, two executives from the Business Development Center in Amman said recently at Thunderbird.
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By Katherine Hutton, Walker Center managing director

This week I had the pleasure of meeting Tammy Myatt. She is the new program manager for the Thunderbird women’s entrepreneurship program in Kabul, Afghanistan, funded by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Program. Tammy spent her time at the Walker Center on the Glendale campus meeting with a wide host of faculty and staff learning about Thunderbird and our programs in Afghanistan. 

Tammy related to me when she saw the job opening she saw it as a gift, a calling, rather than a job. She is very excited about living in Kabul and working with the courageous women who participate in the program. A native of Canada, and coming from Halifax, Nova Scocia, she is prepared for the climatic extremes of Afghanistan.

With a background in organizational management and business administration, Tammy possesses a strong talent base for managing the program. Additionally, her work experience in Saudi Arabia speaks to her cultural adaptability. Tammy will be on the ground in Kabul within the month!

Entrepreneurs with good ideas swirling in their heads need to choose wisely before launching their next startup, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman said July 28 during a live webcast with students in the global business plan class of Thunderbird Professor Steven Stralser, Ph.D. “You can only invest your life in one thing at a time,” Hoffman said. “And most entrepreneurs have a maximum of two to three startups in them.” He shared five strategies for identifying ideas with the greatest chance of success.
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