Spotlight:
Part-time MBA Business Innovation
Competition
Melissa Murphy Lanzo, David Miller and
James Schlick enjoy the fruits of their victory after placing first for
their proposal "Legal-ease: Legal Services Simplified."
Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor dark of night
could stop the 10 teams contending for first place in
the re-scheduled Part-time MBA Business Innovation
Competition on Friday, January 28. Each team had just
eight minutes to convince an astute panel of judges that
they had the most innovative idea, and a comprehensive
business plan that could bring it from the realm of
ideas to reality. All 332 second-year part-time MBA
students participated in the competition. The
three-member teams were winnowed down from 110 teams in
the first round of judging to 30 in the second round, to
just 10 in the final round.
“The Business Innovation Competition provided
students the opportunity to develop a new product or
innovate on an existing product or process from
conception to proposition. It exposed students to the
resources of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and
provided a creative opportunity to demonstrate the
skills they acquired from their first year core
coursework,” said Cherie Scricca, associate dean for
masters programs and career management.
Proposals ranged from the highly technical to the
more whimsical. Some teams proposed entirely new
products, while others combined existing products or
technology in a new way. Two teams capitalized on the
fact that modern cell phones are equipped with global
positioning system data, two other teams found new uses
for RFID technology, and three suggested new services
for already-existing corporations.
Steve Dubin
'74, president of Martek
Biosciences Corporation,
spoke to the assembled crowd
of students, presenters,
faculty and onlookers.
After their presentations the teams faced tough
questions from the panel of judges, which included Dean
Howard Frank; Steve Dubin ’74 (right), president
of Martek Biosciences Corporation; Charles Heller,
professor of practice for the Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship, managing director of Beacon Global
Advisors and senior managing director of Beacon Global
Private Equity; and John La Pides, professor of practice
for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and
president and CEO of Snow Valley, Inc.
Alumnus Steve Dubin, president of Martek Biosciences
Corporation, who spoke to the audience of students,
presenters, faculty and onlookers, encouraged the MBA
candidates to seize the opportunity in every difficulty
and focus on the impact they could make within an
organization. “Build a good team around you, work very
hard, and do what you can to make a difference,” he
advised.
First place winners received $500 each; second and
third place winners each received $200.
First-place proposal Legal-ease, an “H&R
Block”-type legal services shop with stores in malls
and affordable basic service, was presented by James
Schlick, David Miller, and Melissa Murphy Lanzo.
Second-place proposal Demand-Based Price
Adjustments for Single-Event Ticket Sales, a pricing
model for Ticketmaster that varies prices based on
the popularity of the event, was presented by Darren
Goode, Craig Lowenstein, and Mike Mausteller.
Third-place proposal mFinder, a system using the
GPS technology in cellphones to create buddy lists
that would let you know where fellow cell-phone
users are located, was presented by Clarence Grant.
Fellow team members were Jonathon Ho and Evgeny
Chebotarev.
Other proposals included:
Plants to gasify coal in order to produce
electricity in a ecologically-friendly way;
Adding customer wood shops to Home Depot stores;
A wireless detection system for broken traffic
lights;
Product tracking on trucks through integrated
wireless services;
Using cell phones and GPS technology to generate
real time traffic information;
Using RFID-equipped golf balls and readers to
give golfers instant feedback on their stats;
A broadband video-on-demand rental system for
Blockbuster Video.
▓ Rebecca Winner, Office of Marketing
Communications
Vote Now to Recognize Teaching
Excellence at Smith!
The
Krowe Teaching Awards are the highest
recognition given by the Smith School to faculty for
teaching excellence and instructional innovation. We ask
that faculty and administrators nominate the Smith School faculty
member/instructor who, in your experience, best
exemplifies teaching quality and effectiveness. The
nomination process is quick and convenient: a form is
available
online. Please
visit our site and let us hear from you. Your
participation will support and enrich the commitment to
teaching excellence at the Smith School. The deadline
for submitting nominations is Friday, February 4,
2005.
Next on Smith Business Close-Up:
Successful
Entrepreneurs:
What You Need To Know To Become One
More people than ever are starting their
own businesses. Nearly 400,000 companies were
established in 2003, 35 percent more than in 2002. The bad news
is statistics also show that many businesses are
failing. What types of people are willing to go out on a
limb and start a business? What are the risks of
entrepreneurship, and what resources are available for
people hoping to venture out on their own? Tune in to
find out how the
Dingman
Center for Entrepreneurship can help you turn your
idea into a profitable business. Joining us for this edition of Smith
Business Close-Up is Asher Epstein, Managing
Director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at
the Smith School.
Thursday, February 3rd, 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 4th, 4:30 a.m. Sunday,
February 15th, 11:00 a.m.
