Presenting the Smith MBA Class of 2006

Sprinting, jumping and hurdling, nearly 160 students representing 22 countries came together on August 16, 2004, in Van Munching Hall to begin their two-year pursuit of the coveted Smith School MBA degree. The weeklong orientation for the Class of 2006, whose collective favorite Olympic sport is track and field, featured keynote speakers, team-building exercises, career planning, and networking events.

"The purpose of MBA Orientation is to help incoming students manage the transition from the world of work to that of a demanding MBA program, while simultaneously developing the camaraderie and spirit that is unique to the Smith community," says Sabrina White, Smith's director of MBA/MS admissions.

Keynote Speaker Harvey Seegers

The 2006 MBA class opened its orientation week with a lesson in leadership from e-commerce expert Harvey Seegers. Seegers, who says the Robert H. Smith School of Business understands the future of business better than any other business school in the world, is former CEO of GE Global eXchange and GXS. He is 2004-2005 Executive-in-Residence at the Smith School; the school will take advantage of his e-commerce expertise through lectures and seminars throughout the year.

Seegers' presentation, Business Leadership in the Digital Economy: A CEOs perspective, focused on the way technology has changed business. Among the brand new challenges for young leaders like you, Seegers told entering MBA students, is the need for cross-functional knowledge. The digital economy is coming of age, and capital markets are impatient for growth. Disruptive technologies creep into the workplace at devastating speed.

Seegers also urged students to integrate basic business principles into their understanding and development of netcentric business practices. His multimedia presentations included a sobering parade of failed e-commerce enterprises. At the beginning of the dot-com boom there was a Gold Rush mentality among management and investors who should have known better. There was a lack of independent judgment. In their preoccupation with cool technology, they ignored enduring business principles, said Seegers.

Marshmallow Building Achievements

Marshmallows and toothpicks were the building blocks for an unusual lesson in diversity and teamwork for the Class of 2006. Students were divided into groups of four and given the task of constructing a model for a new Smith School building using toothpicks and marshmallows. But there was a catch: only one person could touch the building supplies, and of the other three team members, one could only talk, one could only write, and one could only draw. Somehow, the teams had to find a way to get their building constructed despite their diverse abilities and communication styles. And to give everyone a taste of every role, group members switched roles every eight minutes.

Despite the playful nature of the exercise, these aspiring leaders came away with some serious conclusions in their post-building discussion. Groups reflected on how different styles of communication affected the teams ability to work together, and many noted how hard it was to change from one style of communication to another. (And almost everyone thought the folks who could only write their thoughts had a more difficult time communicating than the folks who could only draw their thoughts.)

Differences in communication styles weren't the only problems groups worked through. They dealt with running out of supplies (not enough toothpicks!) and then had to work through re-engineering their structure to cope with the unexpected capital equipment shortage. Some groups had difficulty coming to a consensus on their plan, some groups waited till their structure was half-built before coming up with a plan, and other eschewed planning altogether. Some groups found that ideas came all at once from everyone in the group, which made it difficult to, like, actually get anything accomplished.

Second-year MBA students acted as moderators for their new peers, helping them apply their marshmallow building experience in a thoughtful and stimulating discussion of the importance communication would play in their team projects during the year. The Smith MBA program relies heavily on teamwork to give these future CEOs practical experience of the persuading, negotiating, and collaborative effort that will drive their future careers.

Finally, the groups efforts were rewarded with candy. Now who says getting a graduate degree cant be fun?

And the Gold Medal for Climbing Goes to...

A highlight of orientation was a half-day of team-building exercises at the University of Maryland's Outdoor Recreation Center. MBA students worked on two of the adventure complex's ropes courses - a rock climbing wall and an alpine tower. Prior to the advanced skills, the teams were broken up into groups where they got to know each other through various on-the-ground team-building activities.

All students have access to the state-of-the-art Campus Recreation Center, which includes a track, fitness room, weight room, martial arts room, table tennis facility, aerobics room, gyms, racquetball and squash courts, instructional and deep water pools, saunas, locker/shower facilities, an equipment issue service, Pro Shop, the Center for Health and Wellbeing, and Sneakers Caf and lounge.