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Category Archives: Brock Hardisty
Learning from the Oracle: Owen visits with Warren Buffett
Business school is bursting with unique forums in which students have access to some of the greatest and brightest minds in modern industry. These standout moments can be pivotal points in shaping the next generation of business creativity and innovation. Prior to Spring Break, 20 Owen students were treated to just such an opportunity—the rare chance to sit down for a Q&A with one of the world’s greatest investors, philanthropists, and public figures, Mr. Warren Buffett. The lucky group traveled to Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, arriving in tact despite a major snowstorm that threatened the event (and precluded other chosen schools from making the journey).
The trip was a brainchild of Owen finance professor Philip Woodlief, who had reached out to Buffett through a personal connection to convey Vanderbilt’s interest in visiting the investor. With the meeting arranged, preparations began months in advance, with students doing their research by reading up on Buffett’s philosophies on investing, politics, and life. The group convened on multiple occasions to formulate a list of poignant questions to pose to the “Oracle of Omaha”, trying to focus on themes that had not been addressed in the litany of Buffett materials already available.
Posted in Brock Hardisty, Graduate Life, Industry Insights, OwenBloggers Tagged travel, Warren Buffett Leave a comment
On the Job Hunt Trail: National Black MBA Conference 2012
Career conferences are a major opportunity in business school to network with MBA candidates from other schools, gain exposure to a number of companies who recruit MBA students, and to potentially interview for positions with these companies. The National Black MBA Association conference was held last week in Indianapolis, IN, and several students from Owen attended. Here are two of their stories:
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The travel arrangements are made, I’ve let all my professors know why I won’t be in class on Thursday, and I’ve printed off multiples of 4 different versions of my resume: I’m ready for “National Black”, one of the premier MBA conferences in the country, and a major opportunity to land my post-Owen job.
Walking into the conference on Thursday morning, the nervous anticipation was visible on the faces of students who had flown in from across the country. Prospective employees leaned on one another for advice and support.
“What have you heard about the Unilever interview? Is there a case?”
“I can’t believe I told the interviewer about my high school band competition. Do I even stand a chance at second round?”
New Product Development: Innovation + Vacuum Cleaners
A gratifying part of business school is the realization that your “great ideas” can become useful, tangible, and (hopefully) profitable products. MBA students are often pigeonholed with the reputation of having marginally-sociopathic financial motivations. Counter to this, however, is the reality that for every human desire and tendency, there is a business opportunity waiting to be explored and created. This is the basis for Dave Owens’ popular class, “New Product Design and Development”.
The Magnesium.
This spring, 25 or so MBA students, along with a smattering of senior students from Vanderbilt’s School of Engineering, are working with Oreck Corporation to create a home-cleaning solution that deviates from Oreck’s typical product offering. Professor Owens provides a foundation of learning, in which students explore some of the research techniques used to gather insights into consumer behavior. Many of the best innovations are inspired through observation of the daily tasks that we all do every day, and the subsequent products that make those tasks easier. Ergonomic office chairs, easy-to-read measuring cups, and ketchup packets you can dip your fries in—these products all began with an “a ha!” moment that inspired a designer.
If only we had thought of this first.
Posted in Brock Hardisty, Graduate Life Tagged design, innovation, new product development Leave a comment