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'BLOGS' AND 'WIKIS' MAY ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY AND CUSTOMER RELATIONS.
New kinds of initiatives are emerging—wellsprings of information and knowledge—that are being disseminated to consumers over the Internet. A study by
researcher David Hinds, along with College of Business Administration professors Kuldeep Kumar, Ronald M. Lee, and Mike
Prietula, concludes that these open-content initiatives are expanding rapidly and that their ultimate impact on business
and society could be enormous.
The projects often use software tools
called "blogs" and "wikis," which provide various ways for individuals to contribute, review, and even change information
on a web site. Companies such as Microsoft and Nike are encouraging their employees to establish open blogs for exchanging
information with customers and with other employees. Wikis are being used by software maker Aperture Technologies to improve internal coordination and reduce the need for meeting, conferences, and endless exchanges of email.
"These initiatives are beginning to
change the way that we create and use knowledge," Hinds said.
Any company with a web presence can
become closer to its customers and add value to its corporate web site, as Amazon.com has done, by allowing customers to
post book reviews, opinions about company products, and personal perspectives and preferences.
Hinds's research focuses on identifying
policy and technical options available to initiative organizers and on assessing how these options can improve the content
value and the likelihood of success.
"What we are finding is that, because
these are voluntary and somewhat self-organizing activities, a more open policy of facilitation and guidance is usually
much more effective than the more traditional command and control approach," Hinds said.
Effects of the facilitate vs. control
decision are clearly illustrated by looking at two encyclopedia initiatives. The Nupedia project applied traditional
editorial reviews and a cumbersome author registration process, resulting in only 12 published articles during its first
two years. The Wikipedia project, by using less restrictive user reviews and a wiki-based contribution system, amassed
some 500,000 articles over its first three years—a dramatic demonstration of the "power of openness," Hinds said.
.: DEAN ELAM HONORS BUSINESS ALUMNI CHAPTER AT AWARDS BREAKFAST.
Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam and Monique Catoggio (MBA '03), director of alumni and partner relations, recognized the board members and volunteers of the Business Alumni Chapter for their dedication to the College of Business Administration and its more than 30,000 alumni. Present at the Awards Breakfast at the Toscana restaurant on May 27 were (front row, from left) Catoggio (MBA '03), Executive Dean Elam, Marteena Rodriguez (BA '92), Cristina Jaramillo, coordinator of alumni and partner relations, Marlene Couret (BA '01), Tatiana del Rey; (back row from left) Miguel Horvath (BBA '00), Nelson Vallin (BBA '99), Manny Pravia (MST '92), Luis Pereira (BBA '01), Denise Peña (BBA '97), Daniel Galdona (BA '96), Senen Garcia (BBA '02), Jeremy Baker (BBA '00), and Raymond del Rey (BBA '97).
.: BUSINESS ALUMNI CHAPTER HUDDLES FOR GOAL- AND EVENT-SETTING.
The newly-installed board of the College's Alumni Chapter will inaugurate a new year of activities on July 23 with a Salsa Dance Party at the Renaissance at the Gables.
Under the leadership of Chapter Board President Jeremy Baker (BBA '00), the group outlined a series of activities aimed at increasing membership and promoting connectivity with both the College and the business community. These activities include a quarterly executive speaker's series, a family fun day, and several programs in Broward County. Also in the works are two events aimed at raising funds for a business student student scholarship-- a Poker Tournament in August and a bachelor/ette auction near Valentine's Day.
For more information on the Business Alumni Chapter's events and membership, visit the Chapter's web site.
.: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY GETS A HAND FROM CBA ALUMNI.
Eight hours of hard labor at Habitat for Humanity in Overtown was nothing that this partial crew from the Business Alumni Chapter couldn't handle. From left, Svietlana Babienko (BBA '02), Karen Wong, Jeremy Baker (BBA '00), Nelson Vallin (BBA '99) and son Nelson, Daniel Galdona (BAcc '96), and Marlon Rizo (BBA '02).
They spent the day sanding, scraping, shoveling, and painting, helping prepare two houses for their new tenants. Seventeen members of the Business Alumni Chapter devoted all day June 26 to a Habitat for Humanity project in Overtown. The event was the sixth in a series of community service initiatives chaired by Nelson Vallin (BBA '99).
"We were working side-by-side with a woman who's going to be moving into one of the houses," said Vallin, who passed the afternoon digging a four-foot ditch. "She was very appreciative. The whole project is great and such a benefit to the community."
The Alumni Chapter will be announcing its new slate of service activities starting in August. Anyone interested in participating should call Vallin at 786-443-6528 or visit the Chapter's web site.
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.: INAUGURAL PINES WBBA COHORT ADOPTS DANIA ELEMENTARY IN SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT.
They plotted a community service project and escorted it through every phase until mid-June, presenting a check for $2,605 to Dania Elementary School in Dania Beach.
The 19 members of the first-ever Weekend BBA (WBBA) class at the FIU Pines Center in Pembroke Pines identified the elementary school's needs and decided to do something about them. The school, one of the oldest in Broward County, includes autism and ESOL clusters and houses a total of 702 students, all of whom qualify for free lunch.
"It's phenomenal what they did for us," Principal Kathy DiBona said. "I have nothing but praise for the whole group, the whole concept, and the whole process. And he's my guardian angel."
"He" is Robert Hogner, better known as "Dr. Bob," the College's expert in service learning. It was through the community service aspect of his "Business in Society" course that the class raised money for the school's general fund. Participants secured prize contributions from the Florida Marlins, Bahama Breeze Restaurant, and MUVICO, then raffled the gifts at $2 a ticket through their places of employment, an important component of the project.
"Our students were exposed to doing good in the community, but also advertised the College and its WBBA program—setting deeper roots in the community and recasting their own personal images as people with potential," Hogner said.
DiBona said FIU and the WBBA, now official named partners with Dania Elementary and with the School Board of Broward County, will be featured on the district's and the school's web sites.
"It's just one little thing I could do for FIU for all they did for us," DiBona said.
Hogner said the fundraiser was only the first step in forging the new relationship. Future projects might include student picnics or teacher appreciation luncheons.
.: FIU ALUMNUS SHARES ENTREPRENEURIAL LIFE STORY WITH MANAGEMENT STUDENTS.
Life is great when you're only 36 years old and you're being asked, "When do you plan to retire?"
 FIU alumnus Ben Sardinas (BS '01) usually answers, "I am retired; it's a state of mind."
Recently, Sardinas shared with College management students how he always had the entrepreneurial "bug," starting his first company while a freshman at FIU and founding two companies thereafter. Now, as the co-founder and chief marketing officer for Avisena, a leading provider of healthcare management services, Sardinas explained to students how his passion for what he believed in, his willingness to make sacrifices, and a little help from Mom paid off in the end.
"My mother is my best advisor," Sardinas said. "She had expertise in recruiting and business process reengineering, and she invested in one of my businesses early on. When I was able to turn a profit for her, it was a great feeling."
He offered students a few tips:
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For a realistic business plan, double expenses and half revenues.
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Always memorize your pitch.
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Don't go into business with people you don't like; you're going to be spending the majority of your time with them.
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Make sure to ask yourself, "What am I doing today to affect something tomorrow?"
Avisena, also founded by College alumnus and the company's President Albert Santalo (MBA '97), has reached more than $120 million in accounts receivables from its clients in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties since its inception almost two years ago.
Anyone interested in speaking to our students should contact Monique Catoggio at 305-348-4227 or e-mail her.
.: MASTER'S PROGRAM IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT KICKS OFF IN JAMAICA.
Hand-picked faculty in Kingston, Jamaica, will team with the College's experts for the July 11 launch of the Chapman Graduate School's latest global endeavor, the Master of Science in Management - Human Resource Management (MSHRM) program.
The MSHRM-Jamaica consists of 13 courses—a combination of on-site and Internet-delivered courses—taught over 16 months. Most classes will be co-instructed by six professors from the University College of the Caribbean (UCC), the largest private university in Jamaica, and the College's Dana Farrow, Kathlyn Wilson, Kevin Brown, Juan Sanchez, Mary Ann Von Glinow, Cliff Perry, and Galen Kroeck, who also serves as faculty director.
"We wanted to make it appropriate, to adapt it, so it would be relevant to the Jamaican context," Program Manager Flavia Iuspa said. "Now, after talking about this for two years, it's finally coming alive. It's exciting."
The arrangement is similar to that of our other collaborative program with UCC—the IMBA-Jamaica—which began in 1999 and will initiate its sixth cohort in August.
.: HISPANIC MARKETING SYMPOSIUM DRAWS MAJOR MERCHANDISERS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY.
Anheuser Busch, Nextel, American Greetings, General Motors Corp., and Allstate Insurance were just a few of the big-name firms drawn to both sides of the dais June 16 - 18 for the Hispanic Marketing Symposium sponsored by both the College and the National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC).
The conference attracted 33 participants from as far away as Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, who came to hear 13 marketing executives and academicians examine the growing Hispanic middle-class and trends and projections for reaching that market in the future.
Keynote presenters included J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich Partners; Marta Noa, of Accent Marketing, which oversees Hispanic marketing for General Motors; and Paul Mendieta, director of Hispanic marketing for Coors Brewing.
Peter Dickson |
Peter Dickson, the College's Knight Ridder Eminent Scholar in Global Marketing, and Cecilia Alvarez, a Ph.D. candidate, shared the podium to offer a look at the changing values of the Hispanic market and to discuss the database they put together of academic and industry research on marketing to Hispanics. To visit the Hispanic Marketing Research Archives, another joint effort with NHCC, go to http://hmra.fiu.edu.
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