Executive MBA

Intl. Residency adds value to EMBA experience

Patrick Coyne — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:04:12 +0000

In October the EMBA 2 Group went on their International Residency Week trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. The group experienced the culture, business and government first hand throughout the week. The group received a lesson on how to cross the street (see how) and took part in both group and individual company visits. They also had meetings with government officials as well as briefings from US Embassy and US Commercial Service officials discussing how to develop business relationships in the country.

EMBA 2's enjoy some free time in Hanoi - Oct. 2009

Executive MBA Participants Experience Vietnam

Patrick Coyne — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:35:08 +0000

As part of their International Residency Week, the second year Executive MBA participants experienced business in Vietnam up close and personal. Boise State University EMBA students traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam in October, 2009.

Their experience was covered in Doug Metzgar’s blog. Doug is a member of the EMBA class of 2010. He’s also a principal at Meshwork Marketing and an expert in community marketing.

KEEPING THE DIALOG OPEN WHEN WORKING IN GROUPS

Patrick Coyne — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:06:16 +0000

When brainstorming in a group setting a good technique for keeping the discussion going is to adopt the phrase “yes…and” instead of “but” or “no…but”. A good way to put this into practice is to decide beforehand to use “yes…and” whenever the conversation moves from one person to another. It might feel a bit strange at first but the end result of your session will most likely be superior to a conversation filled with “no’s” or “but’s”.

Jenny Sternling
Business Improvisation Instructor
Boise State University – Executive MBA Program
jennysternling@u.boisestate.edu
October 2009

New EMBA’s Start Program in Sun Valley

Patrick Coyne — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:18:30 +0000

New Executive MBA (EMBA) Participants, Jeff Pack, Eddie Brathwaite and Elaine Damschen take part in a negotiation simulation during Opening Residency Week at Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. The Boise State EMBA program starts each fall with an intensive learning week held at an off campus location. The week long experience immerses executives students back into the learning environment while minimizing distractions from work, etc. The event marks the start of the twenty one month program for the new EMBA Class of 2011.

Using Net Present Value to evaluate long-term projects

Trisha Lamb — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:06:58 +0000

Definition
Net present value (NPV) is defined as the total present value (PV) of a time series of cash flows. It is a standard method for using the time value of money to appraise long-term projects.

Formula
Each cash inflow/outflow is discounted back to its present value (PV). Then they are summed. Therefore NPV is the sum of all terms Rt/(1+i)^t where:

t – the time of the cash flow
i – the discount rate (the rate of return that could be earned on an investment with similar risk.)
Rt – the net cash flow (the amount of cash, inflow minus outflow) at time t

What NPV Means
NPV is a decision model that measures how much value an investment or project creates for the firm’s owners above the opportunity cost contained in the discount rate. With a particular project, if Rt is a positive value, the project is in the status of discounted cash inflow in the time of t. If Rt is a negative value, the project is in the status of discounted cash outflow in the time of t. Projects with a positive NPV should be accepted. In financial theory, if there is a choice between two mutually exclusive alternatives, the one yielding the higher NPV should be selected. The following sums up the NPVs in various situations.

If…	It means…	Then…
NPV > 0	the investment would add value for the owners	the project may be accepted
NPV < 0	the investment would subtract value from the owners	the project should be rejected
NPV = 0	the investment would neither gain nor lose value for the owners	We should be indifferent in the decision whether to accept or reject the project. This project adds no monetary value above the opportunity cost of funds used to invest. Decision should be based on other criteria, e.g. strategic positioning or other factors not explicitly included in the calculation.

Harry White, PhD
Professor of Finance, Boise State University
June 2009

Year 1 ends with a session at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival

Trisha Lamb — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:33:35 +0000

The EMBA2’s finished out their first year with project presentations to a panel of experts at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. The venture funding panel included Pete Gombert (Balihoo), Brian Larsen (Hawley-Troxell), Tom Mahoney (Boise Angel Fund) and Raino Zoller (Kickstand/Boise Angel Fund). The weekend culminated with a celebration dinner for the EMBAs and their spouses followed by a performance of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov.

Venture panel members watch a presentation given by an EMBA team

EMBA Alumnus – Jon Munkers – BYP Accomplished Under 40 honoree

Trisha Lamb — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:45:55 +0000

The Idaho Business Review has announced the 2009 recipients of the Idaho Accomplished Under 40 awards.

This year, the program’s 10th, was the most competitive to date. More than 140 young movers and shakers across the state were nominated for the distinction.

complete story…

Fostering Innovation at Boise’s WaterCooler

Trisha Lamb — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:27:03 +0000

EMBA’s met at the WaterCooler in downtown Boise this month. Participants took part in workshops designed to help expand their innovation projects at the world’s only business development center dedicated to the creative economy. Included in the session was a VC panel discussion with John Glerum (BSU TECenter), Will Wardwell (Hawley-Troxell), Glen Michael (Highway 12 Ventures) and Mike Mers (Aspen Capital Management) explaining the pros and cons of using investor money when launching new business ventures.

WaterCooler>

May 2009

Panel discussion on new venture funding

Benefiting From Change – Cross Functional Work Teams

Trisha Lamb — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:20:55 +0000

The idea of cross-functional work teams – where employees from different parts of a company work together to develop new products – often conflicts with the status quo. But it doesn’t have to.

Business firms tend to organize people by skill areas: marketing people work together, finance people work together, and production people work together. So to take one person out of each area and create a new team is contrary to “how things are done.”

Segmenting areas by marketing, R&D or finance puts people into silos. Each functional area does its “job” before passing a project to the next area. For example, an idea starts as an innovation from the lab. Then it goes to engineering where it becomes a working prototype. Next, the manufacturing unit builds the product at low cost before the marketing group sells it…and so on…

More firms no longer follow this simple linear process. Instead, by using cross-functional teams and forcing different departments to work together in real time, firms see cost-savings and also boost creativity and spontaneity. An additional benefit to firms is the ability of the cross functional team to leverage a sturdy but lean workforce without sacrificing quality, while saving money and strengthening the bottom line.

Nancy Napier, PhD
Professor of International Business, Boise State University
May 2009

Dr. Napier teaches in the Executive MBA Program and hosts Idaho Business Matters on Boise State Radio. This tip comes from Dr. Napier’s course sessions in the EMBA Program and her radio show. Thanks to Boise State Radio for sharing this tip from the program, Idaho Business Matters, on NPR 91.5

Geographically Dispersed Work Teams

Trisha Lamb — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:58:23 +0000

Industry expert, Manny Kostas, VP of HP’s Ink Jet and Web Solutions, shared his know-how with the EMBA class on managing geographically dispersed work teams.

April 2009

Manny Kostas teaches EMBA session