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BBA students and alumnus join forces for conference

Nearly 100 young leaders, including a record number of international participants, helped make the fifth annual Undergraduate Business School Leadership Conference (UBSLC) one of the best yet, according to conference organizers.

“The UBSLC combined inspirational and educational entrepreneurial speakers and an interactive case study competition, along with diverse academic collaboration to provide a terrific learning experience for everyone involved,” say Jonathon (Yoni) Ende ’05BBA, conference chair. “Each participant not only learned from the activities, but from each other. The conference possessed a perfect combination of professionalism, edification, and entertainment.”

Of the 94 students from twenty-nine institutions attending the February event, seventeen were international students. Their attendance was sponsored by a special grant from Macy’s. Siemens Energy was also a sponsor. Corporate sponsorship raised to support the conference was more than $25,000.

Daniel Schwartz ’06BBA used his network to bring Howard Schultz, CEO and chief global strategist of Starbucks, to Goizueta and the UBSLC conference. Schultz addressed students in a keynote (see story below), reminding them that building a business with a conscience is challenging, but the rewards include a corporate culture where individuals and investors trust each other.

Lehman’s Rick Reider ’83BBA was in attendance as a keynote speaker. “The UBSL conference was an outstanding experience for both me and Lehman Brothers,” says Reider, managing director of the New York firm. “The enthusiasm that the students brought to this event led to some terrific intellectual interaction. We would very much look forward to being invited to this event over the coming years.”

“These students worked for many months and countless hours to put together one of the best leadership conferences I have ever seen,” says Melissa Trifiletti, associate director of the BBA Program. “I was not alone in the positive feedback as participants, alumni, faculty, and staff also commented how wonderful the conference turned out.”

Ende led an outstanding team of students; most noticeably committee chairs Lindsay Pertz ’05BBA, Matthew Williams ’05BBA, Daniel Schwartz ’06BBA, Jonathon Kramer ’06BBA, and Sharmi Gandhi ’05BBA. Additional students served as conference liaisons and conference interns.

—Sarah Banick

Starbucks’ Chairman Howard Schultz . Starbucks' chairman on integrity in the market place Starbucks’ chairman and chief global strategist Howard Schultz advised students at the recent Undergraduate Business School Leadership Conference to have dreams so big “you can taste them.” That’s just what he did when he bucked the system to build a company with a conscience. “Business at its best is all about humanity,” says Schultz. From early on he balanced profitability and social conscience while showing employees they were valued by offering health benefits and profit sharing. One of the most difficult things to do is to base a company on trust. “You’ve got to create an environment where everyone believes they can speak, criticize, guide and build the company without retribution,” Schultz says. Engaged employees develop relationships with customers that go “beyond good coffee and good real estate.” With Starbucks’ stock up 5,000 percent since it went public with twenty-five stores thirteen years ago, the success of Schultz’s principles are evident. Today, Starbucks has 9,000 stores in forty countries. Schultz no longer knows everyone in the organization, so decentralization and belief in the corporate culture is key. “You have to lead with the heart and don’t compromise your values to the bottom line,” he says. The hardest thing to do when starting a business is to raise capital, and Schultz would opt to make it even more difficult by insisting that money come only from people with “like-minded” ideals. This ensures that when challenges arise there will be full support from any business partners, he says. In a country where people are hungry for “heroic” individuals, Schultz encourages students to not only recognize that success is best when shared, but also that long-term equity will be increased by “doing the right thing every day.” —Francine Kaplan —Francine Kaplan

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