The 2009 Global Business Forum brought together renowned business leaders from a variety of influential industry sectors. Above: Former GE Chairman Jack Welch makes a point during a discussion moderated by UM President Donna E. Shalala.

The School of Business Administration has announced plans for the second University of Miami Global Business Forum, set to take place on January 12-14, 2011. The highly anticipated event will be an opportunity to delve into The Business of Health Care: Defining the Future, the theme of the conference.

The forum will include keynote addresses by some of the world’s most prominent business leaders. It will also feature a series of panel discussions, organized by schools across campus, on such topics as medical science and technology, health care education and wellness, the future of nursing, the hospital of tomorrow, entrepreneurship, health care and the economy, ethics in medicine, health care and the environment, aging, and many other significant issues that shape the business of health care.

The 2011 Global Business Forum will come two years after the University’s first Global Business Forum, which drew nearly 700 alumni and others to campus for deep discussion on the economic crisis and other issues surrounding increased global connectivity. The 2009 Global Business Forum was headlined by such industry titans as Jack Welch and the CEOs of The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald’s Corporation.

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Throughout the spring semester, Eric Kriss, the University of Miami School of Business Administration’s entrepreneur in residence, is hosting a weekly practicum series on starting a new venture. The next session is entitled “Dealing With Uncertainty.” Topics will include estimation models, validation, extrapolation, penetration curves, and the law of unintended consequences. The practicum will be held on Friday, March 5 from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Aresty Graduate Business Building, Room AGB 331. It is free and open to the public; RSVP not required.

More information on the practicum series can be found on the School of Business Administration’s Entrepreneurship Program Web site by clicking here. For more information, please contact Ken Colwell at 305-284-8588.

The University of Miami School of Business Administration has announced the appointment of ten international business leaders to a newly formed Board of Overseers. The board, which includes the current and former top executives of some of the nation’s most prominent companies, will work with the school’s dean, faculty, and administration in its effort to achieve recognition as a globally preeminent business school. Chaired by David H. Komansky, chairman emeritus of Merrill Lynch & Co., the board includes:

• Ralph Alvarez, former president and chief operating officer, McDonald’s Corp.
• Joseph Echevarria, U.S. managing partner of operations and vice chair, Deloitte LLP
• Pedro Fabregas, president and CEO, American Eagle Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida
• T. Kendall Hunt, chair and CEO, Vasco Data Security International Inc.
• David H. Komansky, chairman emeritus, Merrill Lynch & Co.
• Jorge Mas, chair, MasTec Inc.
• Michael Misiorski, CFO and senior vice president, Bacardi North America
• Fredric Reynolds, retired executive vice president and CFO, CBS Corp.
• Brian Rice, executive vice president and CFO, Royal Caribbean Cruises
• Marvin R. Shanken, founder and chair, M. Shanken Communications Inc.

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The University of Miami School of Business Administration’s Entrepreneur in Residence, Eric Kriss, is hosting a weekly practicum series throughout the spring semester on starting a new venture. The next session, titled “Developing a Web Presence,” will address topics such as shared hosting, URLs, registrars, open source and open formats, Web intensity, site design, and launching your site.

The practicum is free and open to the public. RSVP is not required. The session takes place on Friday, February 26 at 12 p.m. in the Aresty Graduate Business Building, AGB 331. Brown bag welcome.

More information on the series can be found on the School of Business Administration Entrepreneurship Program Web site by clicking here. For more information, contact Ken Colwell at 305-284-8588.

The University of Miami School of Business Administration’s Entrepreneur in Residence, Eric Kriss, is hosting a weekly practicum series throughout the spring semester on starting a new venture. The next session is titled  “Structuring Ownership,” which will address topics such as debt versus equity, three C’s of equity, dilution, stock options, and sweat equity.

The practicum is free and open to the public. RSVP is not required. The session takes place on Friday, February 19 at 12 p.m. in the faculty lounge (ground floor of the School of Business Administration). Brown bag welcome.

More information on the practicum series can be found on the School of Business Administration Entrepreneurship Program Web site by clicking here. For additional information, please contact Ken Colwell at 305-284-8588.

The  Business Administration Entrepreneur in Residence Eric Kriss is hosting a weekly practicum series over the course of the spring semester about starting a new venture. Last week’s session, “Creating an Identity,” drew a full house of enthusiastic entrepreneurs. If you missed it, be sure to mark your calendars for this week’s session.

Attend “Forming the Entity,” on Friday, February 12 at 12 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge, on the ground floor of the School of Business Administration. Kriss will discuss the pros and cons of various legal forms for one’s new venture from an entrepreneur’s perspective, as well as several other important considerations. Topics will include:

• Sole proprietorship
• General partnership
• Limited partnership (LP)
• Limited liability partnership (LLP)
• Limited liability company (LLC)
• S corporation (pass-through)
• C corporation
• Tax-exempt organizations (501c3)
• Domicile
• Licenses and permits

The practicum is free and open to the public. RSVP is not required.  For more information, visit this Web site, e-mail kcolwell@miami.edu, or call 305-284-8588.

The University of Miami School of Business Administration Entrepreneur in Residence, Eric Kriss, will host a weekly practicum series about starting a new venture over the course of the spring semester. The practicum will focus on issues such as forming the entity, developing an ownership structure, creating a Web presence, and various other important topics.

The first session, “Creating Your Identity,” will describe and explain the steps that should be taken when developing an image for one’s new venture. Topics will include selecting a name; choosing logos and icons; acquiring a URL; developing the company’s email, address, phone number; and business cards; and more.

The practicum is free and open to the public. Please join us for the first meeting on Friday, February 5, at 12 p.m. in the Aresty Graduate Business Building, AGB 331. Brown bags welcome.

For more information on the practicum series, please visit the SBA Entrepreneurship Program Web site or contact Ken Colwell at 305-284-8588.

The Center for Nonprofit Management Workshop presents “Differentiation: Communicate Your Organization’s Unique Role” featuring Bruce Turkel, CEO and creative director for TURKEL; and Barbara E. Kahn, dean of the School of Business Administration. An organization’s ability to raise money, expand programs, and attract board and staff is enhanced when it is well known in the community. You believe in your mission and want others to share your enthusiasm and commitment. This presentation will show how marketing and promotion are a key part of building a strong organization.

This workshop will help you:

• Identify and communicate your organization’s unique role
• Master basic tools of nonprofit marketing and promotion
• Help all board and staff members take part in the PR program
• Integrate a marketing mindset into everything you do
• Reach your most important audiences

The event occurs Thursday, February 11 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the School of Business Administration’s Storer Auditorium. Registration is $25 per workshop. Scholarships are available. For more information, e-mail nonprofit.eec@miami.edu, visit http://nonprofit.miami.edu, or call 305-284-6673.

The full-time MBA program at the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration has been ranked No. 52 in the nation by the influential Financial Times. The newspaper’s annual MBA rankings issue, published January 25, also ranked the school No. 35 in the U.S. and No. 40 in the world for research. The research ranking is a measure of the number of faculty members who have published research articles in 40 leading academic journals over the past three years.

“The faculty is at the core of any great MBA program and any great business school, and this research ranking is a testament to the remarkable strength of our own,” said Dean Barbara E. Kahn. “Excellence in research, along with innovative cross-disciplinary academic programs and engagement with the business community, is among the factors driving the school toward a new level of global preeminence.”

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The School of Business Administration’s Center for Nonprofit Management will present the workshop “Legal Issues and Ethical Behavior: Handle Ethical Dilemmas with Sense and Grace” on Thursday, January 21 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Storer Auditorium. Guest speaker Anita Cava, associate professor of business law at UM and co-director of the UM Ethics Programs, will discuss topics such as:

• Is your nonprofit prepared for instant accountability?
• Do you have policies in place to manage reputation risk in the Internet age?
• Business ethics offers strategies for identifying and preventing missteps in your organization

The registration fee is $25 per workshop; scholarships are available. For more information, call 305 284-6673, e-mail nonprofit.eec@miami.edu, or visit http://nonprofit.miami.edu, Make checks payable to the “University of Miami.”

New research from the University of Miami School of Business Administration’s marketing department shows that retailers can substantially increase sales and profits by increasing the price of a sale item to its original cost in gradual steps rather than in one swift move. In fact, a 30-week field study showed a 200 percent increase in sales and a 55 percent increase in profits with use of this strategy, coined Steadily Decreasing Discounting (SDD) by the researchers.

SDD was tested against two commonly used pricing strategies, Everyday Low Pricing (EDLP) and Hi-Lo Pricing. EDLP, used by discount stores such as Wal-Mart, consistently features items at low prices and seldom on sale. Hi-Lo pricing occurs when stores offer significant discounts on selected items for a limited period.

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Barbara E. Kahn, dean of the School of Business Administration, teaches a marketing leadership module as part of a new partnership between the school and the Young Presidents' Organization of Miami.

The University of Miami School of Business Administration has announced a new partnership with the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) of Miami through which students will gain invaluable mentoring opportunities and YPO members will gain access to specialized executive education offerings.

YPO, whose mission is to “develop better leaders through education and idea exchange,” is an elite organization that brings together highly successful corporate presidents, CEOs, and board members, all of whom are under the age of 45. As part of the partnership, YPO members will mentor students, work with them on consulting projects, serve as coaches in the school’s annual business plan competition, give guest lectures, and offer student internships.

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Leonard Abess, the Miami banker who gave $60 million out of his own pocket to his tellers, bookkeepers, clerks, and everyone on the payroll, learned a lifetime of leadership skills from traveling and spending time with his father, a bank founder who taught his son to be honest, truthful, and trustworthy.

“As I got older, I learned that these are not part-time [qualities],” Abess told a capacity audience last Wednesday at the University of Miami’s Storer Auditorium, where he appeared as the keynote speaker of the School of Business Administration’s Cobb Leadership Lecture Series. “There are no white lies, there’s no temporary borrowing, and there’s no backing down from your word. You can tell 99 truths and one lie, and you will be known forever for that one lie.”

Abess’s lecture, “Some Thoughts on Leadership,” was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week at UM.

CEO of City National Bank of Florida, vice chair of the UM Board of Trustees, and chair of the Executive Committee, Abess told the audience of how his father, whenever he traveled to New York, would hold lengthy conversations with cab drivers and elevator operators.

“I could see that my father was most comfortable around doormen, janitors, cabbies, and elevator operators—hardworking people at the bottom end of the financial spectrum,” Abess said. “And then I saw how much they respected him and appreciated the genuine interest he took in their lives. He loved to help them buy their first home, their first car, send their kids to college.”

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