Spring Mixer 2011

Thanks to the Office of Student Services, all the full time and part time students got together yesterday to have appetizers and drinks.We gathered at the recently opened bar, Martini, across the street to relax and learn a few steps of Salsa. We definitely know how to just have a good time.

Picking MBA Classes 101: Management Consulting

Student: Martin Esser 

Favorite Class: Management Consulting 

Class: Full time 2012

Martin’s insight:
One of the classes I really looked forward to taking was Management Consulting, an industry I have been working in but never learnt about directly. The class is taught by Professor Leon Fraser, as a part of the Management & Business Strategy concentration. We go through typical tasks of consultants on all levels, from pitching, writing proposals, identifying problems, gathering and analyzing data, to professionally communicating with clients. We also talk in general about the different types of consulting, like Strategy, Marketing, IT, Operations, and how to go about starting a career in the industry. What I particularly like is that the whole class has a very “consulting-like” feel to it. We have clearly mapped out agendas and students are required to give short and precise answers. This can turn out to be very entertaining. For example, the professor has banned the phrase “it depends” as an answer to his questions, requiring students to commit to one side or the other. This creates a lot of laughs and builds the basis for a stimulating learning environment.

We Celebrate With Cake

Early Wednesday evening,MBA Student Services threw a party to congratulate our Rutgers team for winning the Kellogg Biotech & Healthcare Case Competition, sponsored by Abbott Labs

From left to right:

Jennifer McGann (MBA'11), Michael Sarshad (MBA'12), Dejan Milantijevic (MBA'11), Laryssa Wozniak (MBA'12) Brandon Saks (MBA'12)

CAKE!

Picking MBA Classes 101: Product Innovation

Student: Anjum Malkana

Favorite Class: Product Innovation

Class: Full time 2012

Anjum's insight:

I am taking a fantastic Marketing class this semester called Product Innovation, with Professor Judy Iskovitz (also the faculty advisor for the Rutgers Association of Marketing & Strategy (RAMS)). Since the course covers new product innovation and development, it runs the risk of being very ambiguous... how exactly do you teach students to come up with new product ideas? But Professor Iskovitz is inspiring and guiding our class through a combination of structured brainstorming sessions, thought-provoking reading assignments, and guiding lectures; by the end of the semester, our groups of 3-4 Marketing MBA students will have identified a real market opportunity, generated new concept/product ideas, and developed market research and launch plans for those concepts!

SGA in January: All-Clubs Council, and a new Full-time Program in New Brunswick!

The newly-elected Student Government Association (SGA) held its first monthly meeting of the term this past Friday (January 28^th). Assisting all the RBS MBA clubs in working together and learning from each other is one of the SGA’s major initiatives; among the topics discussed were the implementation of an “All-Clubs” conference, where representatives of club leadership teams will be able to participate in SGA discussions and voice concerns. The SGA also discussed initiatives underway in the areas of information management, internal social networking, and school branding.

The SGA is placing a special emphasis on improving relationships with student organizations and hopes to increase transparency from the top down. One of the first steps in this endeavor is to centralize all club-related information so that it is accessible to part-time and full-time members, or at the very least, to leadership teams. The board is currently evaluating Blackboard as a medium for content management.

As far as networking and branding initiatives are concerned, SGA members Barak Epstein (President), Anjum Malkana (VP-Full-time), Sonia Singh (VP-Part-time, New Brunswick), and Brandon Saks (Social Chair) are working diligently to establish programs that will elevate the status of Rutgers Business School (RBS) into the ranks of elite state universities. In the works for this year are a formal mentorship program and public relations campaign, which will kick off with a whitepaper focused on academic concentrations. The exact topic is yet to be determined.

Lastly, it has recently come to the SGA’s attention that University plans to establish a full-time MBA program in New Brunswick will come to fruition this fall. While the intent behind this offering is to boost enrollment by adding more convenient locations, the decision will likely impact funds available to student organizations. For now, all clubs are expected to operate in consideration of both campuses.

For more information, please visit: SGA January 2011 Meeting Minutes