Welcome to the premiere issue of BUSINESS NETWORKS, your monthly news bulletin from the College of Business Administration (CBA) and Chapman Graduate School of Business at Florida International University (FIU). We hope it will keep you connected—with each other as alumni, partners, and friends of the College—and with us, the business school for the Americas. We also hope it will give you some insights and information you can use in building your own business networks.

.: You can’t do both at once.

   In his recent award-winning paper (Marketing Science Institute’s “Best Paper”), "Getting Returns from Service Quality: Is the Conventional Wisdom Wrong?" Knight Ridder Eminent Scholar of Marketing Peter Dickson and his co-authors demonstrated empirically that firms are much more successful when they focus exclusively on improving service quality rather than on reducing costs and improving service quality at the same time. The latter, Dickson states, “simply can’t be done.”

.: Some boards work better than others.

   If you’re considering establishing an advisory board for your organization or are serving on one, you might review what Vincent Daniels, Director of Business Development for the College’s Office of Professional Education, has to say in "Building a Successful Business Advisory Board," published in the Spring 2003 MBA Roundtable Journal. Daniels writes from experience, having served as a member of Thunderbird’s Global Council and having recently created a successful one for our International MBA program. Daniels' perspective: To think of the advisory board as “an oasis for executives and business owners who can bond with one another as well as with the organization…for the serious business of giving [it] advice.”

.: National Hispanic Corporate Council selects College as its academic partner.

   At its annual membership meeting in June, the National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC) announced it had selected the College to be its academic partner. According to NHCC President and CEO Carlos Soto, “This alliance seems like a natural fit for us, in that both FIU's business school and NHCC have strong and recognized expertise in issues affecting Hispanics in corporate America.” He added that, “The business school's academic research, coupled with our members' experience, can help enhance knowledge regarding best practices in Hispanic marketing, diversity, leadership, and community relations.” Read More.

.: FIU selected to participate in Kauffman Campuses Initiative.

   FIU was among only fifteen universities nationwide selected by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., to participate in its Kauffman Campuses Initiative, a new program aimed at making entrepreneurship education an accessible and campus-wide opportunity. FIU will use a $50,000 planning grant awarded by the Kauffman Foundation to help fund development of a proposal to be presented in December. The Foundation then will award from five to seven challenge grants of up to $5 million. Spearheading this collaborative effort at FIU are Executive Dean Joyce Elam and Alan Carsrud, Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship in the College.

.: It’s all about security.

   Through a unique partnership with Guarded Networks, Inc., the College’s Office of Professional Education is launching its Information Security and Privacy Program this month. To be offered in a new, state-of-the art network security lab, the program will enable students to simulate 'hacking' attempts and receive instruction on how to protect networks and firewalls. Organized as a series of modules, the program offers general as well as vendor-specific certifications, including preparation for the CISSP exam. College alumnus Richard Dobrow (BBA ’95, MACC ’97), the Founder and CEO of Guarded Networks, Inc., has been instrumental in getting this project underway. Read More.

.: Case focuses on Publix Direct.

   Have you seen a cool, retro green-and-white Publix Direct truck on your morning commute and wondered how the company is doing? Executive Dean Joyce Elam and David Wernick, Research Director of the Knight-Ridder Center for Excellence in Management, recently co-authored a case study on one of the Sunshine State’s newest business hits—one that is carving out a niche in the online grocery home delivery business. Based on a series of conversations with the company’s senior management at its headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia, the case provides a rare, inside look at how and why the company was founded, the technological and operational obstacles it has surmounted during its first year-and-a-half in business, and the challenges the company faces in the future. The case will be taught to MBA students at FIU and around the country.

.: FIU-CIBER hosts conference on trade.

   The College’s Center for International Business and Education Research (FIU-CIBER), in partnership with the University’s Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) and Institute for International Professional Service (IIPS), the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a consortium of trade organizations, held a world-class conference in May 2003 titled Western Hemisphere Business Outlook. The resources of the U.S. Department of Commerce and its fellow trade agencies were highlighted by thirteen of its senior commercial officers from posts throughout the region. A panel of private-sector experts also presented perspectives on the region's current and projected realities relevant to U.S. exporters. Held during World Trade Week, the conference featured keynote remarks by high-level trade officials of the Bush administration.

The Dean’s Alumni Circle is a group of mid- to senior-level executives who are alumni of the College and who act as advisors to the Executive Dean in developing strategies related to alumni, corporate, and research development. Its Founding Members, from left to right, include James R. Bussey (MBA ’99); Monique Catoggio (MBA '03), acting director of Alumni and Partner Relations; Augusto Vidaurreta (BBA ’80); Executive Dean Joyce Elam; Richard Pollack (MSF '02); Josie Carreno (MBA ’99); Amy Pollack, and Claudio Cury (MBA ’01). Not pictured: Brian Mormile (MBA ’93), Mike Gibaldi (BBA ’84), Alfredo Cepero (MACC ’90), and Demian Bellumio (BBA ’00).

"I wish I had had this guidance when I first started out. It gives the person an automatic edge in the competitive management field."
	—Maryann Henry (MBA '03), Nursing Administrative Director of Emergency and Trauma Services, Miami Children’s Hospital, and Mentor since January 2003.

At its fourth annual Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Luncheon, held May 30, 2003, the College paid tribute to its alumnus Anthony Ronconi (BBA ’88), Founder, Principal, CTO, and CSO of StrataSys Group, LLC (left), as its 2003 Inductee. The College also honored a non-alumnus—Howard J. Leonhardt, Chairman and CEO, Bioheart, Inc. (right)— as the 2003 South Florida Entrepreneur of the Year—a new award this year.

.: Interested in what your fellow alumni are up to?

• Alan Lips (MST ’98) has been promoted to Partner of the Miami Beach, Fla. accounting firm of Gerson Preston & Co., P.A.
• Kim Hogan (BBA ’97) has joined Bode Trading Corporation (BODE) as its CFO. BODE is a Miami-based export company and purchasing agent.
  Read more alumni updates.