Mays Impacts

On Jan. 17, the Texas A&M Board of Regents discussed and approved two items pertaining to Mays Business School: the adoption of a resolution celebrating the 50th anniversary of Mays and the establishment of the Sales Leadership Institute. Both items were submitted by Texas A&M University President  Michael K. Young.

The board resolved to extend congratulations to the administration, faculty, research, professionals, and staff of Mays in honor of the school’s 50th anniversary. This resolution was included in the minutes of the meeting and will stand as a permanent tribute to the accomplishments and legacy of Mays.

The board also established the Sales Leadership Institute (SLI) as an organizational unit of Texas A&M University within Mays. The SLI will formalize and elevate the activities of the Professional Selling Initiative (PSI) at Mays which was officially launched in 2015 with the goal of attracting and preparing more students for careers in professional selling and sales management.

Pictured (from left) are Ervin Bryant, Student Regent; Regents Morris Foster, Cliff Thomas, Phil Adams, Chairman Charles W. Schwartz, Mays Dean Eli Jones, Texas A&M President Michael Young, Vice Chairman Elaine Mendoza, Regents Bill Mahomes and Tim Leach, and Chancellor John Sharp.

Originally published in Texas A&M Foundation

Inspired by his mother’s journey from a share-cropping farm in Georgia to running a business in Houston, Barnett “Barney” Gershen ’69 knew he could go anywhere in life if he put forth the effort. “When my mom Margie was 17, she took every penny she had and bought a one-way bus ticket to Houston for $18.50,” Barney said. “She wanted to escape the poor life she had lived in Georgia, and when she left, she knew she was never going back.”

Once she arrived in Houston, Margie found a job, rented a garage apartment and began building a better life for herself and her future family. She eventually met and married Louis Gershen, and the two started a family. Louis worked full-time selling cleaning chemicals while developing his business, XGI Janitor Services, named for his service in the United States Army.

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As the fall semester comes to an end, a group of 18 students and five Brazos Valley nonprofit organizations celebrate a semester’s worth of hard work. For the past three months, students from the Strategic Philanthropy class at Mays Business School have engaged the local community in a unique experiential learning opportunity.

With financial support from George H.W. Bush Library Foundation, The Philanthropy Lab, and The Bethancourt Family, students determined how to allocate $72,000 to local nonprofit organizations. By reviewing more than 50 applications, visiting and interviewing leadership from the top 10 organizations, these 18 students were put in a position to make challenging decisions on how to distribute these funds.

The check celebration was made even more special as the partnership with the George H.W. Bush Library Foundation allowed the class to participate in President Bush’s legacy of service. The check presentation event occurred the day before Bush was brought back to College Station for burial at his presidential library.

The course instructor, Kyle Gammenthaler, quoted President H.W. Bush by saying, “Be bold in your caring, be bold in your dreaming and above all else, always do your best.” The five nonprofit organizations chosen to receive funds personify caring for their community, dreaming boldly, and doing their very best to impact the Brazos Valley for good.

Prior to announcing the nonprofit recipients, Jess Jiongo ’19, a senior university studies-business major, provided the audience with an overview of the semester. She used a blend of humor and poignant thoughts to masterfully retell the story of the Strategic Philanthropy course. She mentioned three takeaways from the semester.

• All 18 students define “good” differently, but it is still good.
• We have to be intentional and put ourselves in positions to do good and meet the needs of those around us.
• We learned what it looks like be strategic and educated givers.

To conclude the night, teams of students presented oversized checks ranging from $5,000 to $21,400 to five nonprofit organizations. This semester’s recipients are Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach, The BEE Community, Save Our Streets Ministries, Still Creek Ranch, and Voices for Children. The organizations’ missions range from providing meaningful work to adults with disabilities to improving the lives of children in foster care. As George H.W. Bush once said, “no definition of a successful life can do anything but include serving others.” Although each organization has a unique mission, they all have one thing in common. These nonprofits have committed to the ultimate call of serving others, which impacted our students and inspired them to take steps toward making a difference.

See below for more information on the nonprofit recipients.

Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach

The BEE Community

Save Our Streets Ministries

Still Creek Ranch

Voices for Children

By Travis Cantwell, business honors ’22

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker

Priding himself in building cultures that breed success, Wayne Roberts ’85 (BANA) and ’86 (MBA) has built a career as a “fixer” and “grower” of teams and companies. From his early days as a consultant at Arthur Andersen through stints at Trammell Crow Company and back at Accenture, he learned the value of getting results “through people, not in spite of them.”

Roberts spoke to Business Honors students on Nov. 29 as part of the Mays Leadership Forum series. He provided invaluable advice to students on establishing extraordinary cultures, finding value in people, and understanding your passion and professional mission.

Roberts serves Mays in an ongoing capacity as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board and co-chairs the Student Recruitment and Development Committee. …Read more

Four Texas A&M marketing students have each won a $5,000 scholarship from the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund national case study competition.

The case study for the competition was based on the “Globalization of Fashion.” Students were asked to investigate a retail company that did not have a physical brick-and-mortar presence in a specific country and conduct research into why that company would succeed in that country.

Participants were expected to utilize both primary and secondary research, create a marketing and financial plan for the selected company, understand consumer tastes and behaviors, and determine how to overcome barriers of conducting business in their particular country.

The four Texas A&M University marketing students who received the award were:

• Manu Garikipati, who investigated introducing Nordstrom to Dubai;
• Jacquelyn Armstrong, who investigated Anthropologie’s introduction to Paris, France;
• Samantha Hunt, who investigated Academy Sports+Outdoors’ inclusion in Mexico;
• Avery Heldenfels, who investigated Restoration Hardware’s introduction to China.

In addition to the prize scholarship money, these four individuals will travel to New York City in January to attend meetings with industry professionals, attend the gala awards ceremony, attend a career fair, and have various opportunities for one-on-one meetings with some of the companies that support the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund Organization.

The Mays Business School’s Center for Executive Development (CED) at Texas A&M University was announced as the winner of “Best New Program” and the runner-up of “Best Custom Program.”

The 2^nd Annual Conference on Management & Executive Development (CMED) Program Awards took place during the annual conference in Orlando, FL., hosted by the ProEd Corporation (ProEd). The ProEd Corporation produces events for executive education professionals.

Joe Bork, president of ProEd, explains that the CMED Program Awards Competition “was created to assemble individuals that would compare and contrast Executive Education, Continuing Education, and Management Development outreach programs as a way to listen, learn, and possibly adopt current and new learning opportunities at their university.”

To be nominated, conference attendees submitted proposals reviewed by a designated selection committee. Fourteen schools from across the globe were chosen to present their programs to conference peers. Winners were selected by peer vote.

The CED’s Weatherford Leadership Development Program was recognized as runner-up for “Best Custom Program.” According to ProEd, programs in the Custom Program category must “demonstrate exceptional design and development of new services and content specifically for the customer.” The CED teamed up with Weatherford’s Talent Development office to create a program that identifies and develops strategic leaders, fosters engagement and commitment to moving Weatherford forward, and empowers leaders to make optimal decisions rooted in Weatherford Core Values & Leadership Competencies. In 2018, a total of 94 leaders and high potential employees completed the Weatherford Leadership Development Program with more programming scheduled for 2019.

The Executive Certificate in Business Essentials by the CED was named the leader in “Best New Program.” Programs must have been delivered within the last 18 months to be considered “new.” The Executive Certificate in Business Essentials was developed for busy professionals responsible for business decisions who hope to refine their business acumen. A range of business topics are covered, including numerous management/leadership sessions, financial acumen, marketing, supply chain, etc. With its unique structure of one two-day session per month over a course of six months, this program accomplishes the goals of participants with limited interruption to their professional lives. For more information on the Executive Certificate in Business Essentials, visit tx.ag/BizEssentials.

Brandi Plunkett, executive director of the CED, shares that “the team is so honored to be recognized for our programs, which are truly a result of tireless effort and tremendous talent on the part of our clients, faculty, and staff.”

The Center for Executive Development (CED) at Mays Business School provides fully customized executive education programs for companies and open enrollment programs for individuals that cultivate ethical leaders. Embodying the Texas A&M core values, the staff at the CED welcomes an on-going dialog with clients in order to meet their objectives and empower them to lead with excellence.

 By Keith Randall, Texas A&M University Marketing & Communications

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School has been ranked among the top 10 schools that produce the most Fortune 500 CEOs. Some of the CEOs who have come through Mays Business School include Bruce Broussard ’84 of Humana, David Cordani’88 of Cigna, and Jeff Miller’88 of Halliburton.

The rankings, compiled by the executive search firm Kittleman & Associates, analyzed the resumes of every chief operating officer of a Fortune 500 company to determine which colleges produce the most industry leaders.

Texas A&M is tied for No. 6 with the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California-Berkeley, and Purdue University with six Fortune 500 CEOs.

Placing first is the University of Wisconsin with 14 CEOs, followed by second-place Harvard University (12), No. 3 Cornell University (10), No. 4 University of Michigan (8), and No. 5 Stanford University (7).

“We know that many universities are providing an exceptional education, but are there institutions that have a track record of developing strong leaders? Looking at this data, it’s clear that some universities have the right ‘secret sauce’ in helping mold successful executives,” said Kittleman & Associates of the survey.

With an enrollment of more than 6,400 students, Mays Business School is frequently ranked among the top business programs in the United States. It is currently ranked in the top 20 nationally by U.S. News & World Report, The Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Princeton Review, Forbes and other publications. Mays Business School has a worldwide network of more than 62,000 former students.

Media contact: Kelli Levey Reynolds, Mays Business School, at (979) 845-3167 or kreynolds@mays.tamu.edu

Five students from the Center for Retailing Studies (CRS) traveled to Montreal, Québec on Nov. 15-17 to participate in the inaugural (R)Tech Global Retail Challenge.

It was hosted by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and Bensadoun School of Retail Management at McGill University.

The Aggie team finished in first place.

The event marked CRS’s first international student trip.

The international event exposed students to the retail challenges of sustainability and the circular economy, equipping students to find innovative solutions. The competition showcased new ideas for the future of retail for the next generation of industry leaders.

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The two most common words heard when almost 900 people gathered for the 2018 Scholarship Banquet were “Thank you.” Every scholarship recipient at Mays attends the annual event, which was held in the Hall of Champions at Kyle Field. The donors got to spend time with those they are supporting, and the students got to update some of their biggest supporters on their activities and ambitions. Group photos at the end captured the memories.

Individual and corporate contributions for the fiscal year 2018 generated more than $5.7 million, which in turn provided more than 700 scholarships. These include undergraduate and graduate-level scholarships, fellowships, and tuition support. Donors support a total endowment of more than $22 million. …Read more

On a Saturday morning, during their 9 a.m. classes, students from the Professional MBA Classes of 2019 and 2020 were prepared to debrief a typical case assignment for their respective accounting course. The class of 2019 was in Mary Lea McAnally’s Financial Accounting course, and the class of 2020 was in Mike Kinney’s Managerial Accounting course. Both cohorts thought this would be a typical class discussion.

Moments into each separate class, the respective faculty announced that the student teams in both classes had a good start analyzing the case – but were incomplete in their analysis. McAnally told her Financial Accounting students, “To understand the complete picture of this company, the results they’ve generated, and the options in front of them, your team needs information from the managerial accounting team in Kinney’s class next door.” Kinney simultaneously announced to his Managerial Accounting teams that they needed to immediately partner with teams from financial accounting to complete a full analysis and generate valid recommendations.

The faculty said, “go,” and the teams from each class paired to complete a new “Combined Case” assignment in 90 minutes. After the 90 minutes, the combined teams presented their analysis and recommendations to a group of faculty who were assuming the role of the case company’s board of directors.

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