WDI Davidson Review Winter 2008

WDI AT 15

W H E N B I L L D A V I D S O N A N D T H E N - B U S I N E S S S C H O O L D E A N B . J O S E P H W H I T E

announced the creation of the William Davidson Institute in 1992, the primary goal was to assist countries makingthe transition from a command to a free-market economy through a program of instruction, faculty and studentdevelopment, and research. At the same time, the Institute helped U.S. businesses operate successfully inemerging market economies.

Davidson announced that his vision for the Institute was to “forge a path for those responsible for economicchange in these emerging markets - that it will give them the knowledge, the methods and the blueprints for asuccessful transition to a market economy.”

Over the past 15 years, WDI has forged paths all around the world through its multitude of programs and initiatives— student projects, training programs, research, exchange programs, development consulting, and most recently,case writing.

In the early years, the Institute — under the direction of Ted Snyder — focused on the transition in Central andEastern Europe after the fall of communism. The Institute focused on three major efforts: delivering annual, six-week,seminars for 50 senior business leaders, entrepreneurs and government officials from countries with economies

ReviewT H E W I L L I A M D A V I D S O N I N S T I T U T E08W I N T E R

> CONTINUED ON P A G E 2 2

LOOKING BACK. LOOKING FORWARD.

Bill Davidso

n and

Madeleine Al

bright (200

1)

“We are not just educators, administrators,

or businessmen, we are co-workers for the

cause of economic and social freedom.”

— Bill Davidson, April 23, 1992

Davidson received an honorarydegree at the spring 2001U-M commencement

Davidson, Czech

President

Vaclav Havel and WDI Executive

DirectorJan Svejnar

(2000)

WDI Board member Ralph

Gerson, Davidson, and

Congressman & WDI Board

member Tom Lantos (2001)

Research UpdatesSocial Enterprise ..............................................................................................................4-5

Social Enterprise Brazil Conference..................................................................................6-7

Base of the Pyramid Conference ......................................................................................8-9

Base of the Pyramid ..........................................................................................................10

Globalization of Services....................................................................................................11

Program UpdatesExecutive Education .....................................................................................................12-13

Development Consulting Services.................................................................................14-15

Educational Outreach.........................................................................................................16

Supporting International ActivitiesCross-School Collaborations..............................................................................................17

Speaker Series .............................................................................................................18-19

Internships...................................................................................................................20-21

NewsTom Lantos Speaks at Michigan.........................................................................................23

WDI Calendar.....................................................................................................................24

6 2014

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

23

www.wdi .umich.edu

3

L E T T E R F R O M T H E E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R

Welcome to the ninth issue of the Davidson Review, the William Davidson Institute’s (WDI)semiannual newsletter designed to keep you apprised of our activities and plans, and to encourage you to become involved in our programs.

As I have mentioned in past letters, WDI organizes its activities into five broad areas —research, development consulting services,executive education, educators’ outreach, and supporting international activities at U-M.

As you will see as you page through the newsletter, this is an exciting time at the Institute. We continue to produce and disseminate new ideasin our focus areas, build communities of interest around these ideas, and engage with practitioners around the work on these topics.

The Development Consulting Services area, under the direction of Khalid Al-Naif, has had a strong year. Khalid has put together a top-notch staff—now totaling four people—with strong advisory and project management backgrounds. The team has done a good jobof generating new projects that complement the Institute’s other initiatives. Our current portfolio of projects is strong (see updates onpages 14-15) and I anticipate several exciting announcement in the next few months.

Executive Education, led by Amy Gillett, had a record year in 2007 —delivering 34 programs to 1,800 participants in 15 countries(each an all-time high). The initiative continues to expand its partnerships with universities and organizations from around the world.Partnerships with universities in Croatia, Turkey, and Latvia continued to grow and WDI established a new partnership with University of New York in Prague. We also revived the “custom” program business, with a successful “mini-MBA” program for 20 sales directorsfrom Oracle in Central Europe. It was well received and Oracle is looking to repeat the program again in 2008 with a new group of employees. (Read more about Executive Education on pages 12-13.)

The new Educational Outreach initiative, announced in the winter 2007 newsletter, is a few months away from its public launch. Under the direction of Professor John Branch, the Educational Outreach case writers are working with more than a dozen Ross School of Business faculty members to develop teaching materials (cases, conceptual notes, quizzes, etc.). We established a goal of helping facultymove their intellectual capital into the classroom and I am pleased with the area’s progress to date. The number of cases is growing rapidlyand we anticipate a spring launch of an “educators’ forum” website that will distribute these materials beyond U-M. We will be writingmuch more about this exciting new initiative in the next newsletter. For the latest on Educational Outreach, turn to Page 16.

All three research initiatives—Globalization of Services, Social Enterprise, and Base of the Pyramid —are progressing well. All arefocused on content creation at the moment.

Base of the Pyramid, led by Ted London, has developed into a thought leader on the poverty alleviation aspects of a BoP perspective. TheBoP conference co-hosted by WDI and Cornell in September was a success and further solidified WDI’s standing as a leader in this area.

Globalization of Services, managed by Ajay Sharma, continues to work closely with leading firms in the sector —in the U.S., EU, anddeveloping countries. The major foci for this year are finishing a book on offshoring —scheduled for release in summer 2008—andcourse development.

Social Enterprise, headed by Kelly Janiga, hosted a major conference in Brazil last August. The initiative is now focused on writing casesfor Kelly’s MBA course (currently being offered for the second time), and working on a book that focuses on tools for social enterprise.

WDI’s support for international activities continues to expand. This includes sourcing and sponsoring MAP projects for the MBA program,expanding the number of Global Impact (summer) internships, and expanding support for international programs at other schools at U-M.You can read about these initiatives on pages 17-21.

As I hope this newsletter describes, the magnitude, scope, and impact of WDI’s activities continues to expand. If you are alreadyengaged with WDI, we thank you for your involvement. If you are not, we invite you to become a part of this exciting community.

Sincerely,

Robert E. KennedyExecutive Director

W I N T E R 2 0 0 8 | REVIEWwww.wdi .umich.edu

A course on social entrepreneurship, whichdebuted last year, is being held again thiswinter at the Ross School. Student interest in this topic is strong and growing.

“Social Entrepreneurship: Business Tools forEnhanced Social Impact,” an MBA-level course,began in January. It is being taught by KellyJaniga, manager of the Institute’s SocialEnterprise research initiative, and Andy Lawlor,a faculty member at the Ross School.

The course looks at innovative businessstrategies that U.S. and international nonprofitsare adopting to enhance their sustainabilityand social impact, such as starting socialenterprises or revenue-generating enterprises.

During the class, students examine the challenges and opportunities nonprofits facewhen they adopt for-profit strategies. They

also gain the practical skills needed to buildand manage a high-impact social enterprise.

The course uses lectures, cases, guest speakersand a final project to communicate key concepts.It is organized into six modules. They are:

■ Defining the Social EntrepreneurshipLandscape

■ The Social Enterprise Model ■ Adapted Business Tools for Social Change■ Internal Social Enterprise Challenges ■ External Social Enterprise Challenges■ Metrics, Replication and Scale

“Students who want to be involved here and abroad in the social sector as businessleaders, consultants, board members, philanthropists, foundation leaders, managers,or social entrepreneurs will benefit from taking this course,” Janiga said.

Workshop Will HelpBrazilian NGOsWDI, along with its Brazilian partner InstituteGESC, will hold a two-day workshop in São Paoloon strategies to enable NGOs to more effectivelyadvocate for better healthcare policies fromthe government.

The workshop, on April 28-29, will bring infaculty from the University of Michigan, practitioners from WDI’s NGO Alliance in Centraland Eastern Europe, and Brazilian experts.Together they will provide practical informationfor 50 healthcare-related NGOs from Brazil.

The workshop is fully funded by healthcaregiant Roche.

SE Video InterviewsThe WDI Social Enterprise video collection hasadded some new interviews. Recently added tothe library are interviews with Chetna Gala Sinha,the founder and chair of MannDeshi MahilaSah Bank Ltd., Mhaswad; Dan Logan andJennie Amias, producers from the PBS news

program NOW;Scott Hillstrom,CEO of theHealthStoreFoundation; andJoyce Rukungu,a nurse from

Kenya who operates a CFW Clinic. Other videointerviews include Mari Kuraishi of Global Giving,Fabio Rosa of IDEAAS, Wellington Nogueira of Doctors of Joy, Elisabeth Rhyne of ACCIONInternational, Tom Reis of the Kellogg Foundationand Valeria Budinich of Ashoka. To see theinterviews, go to:www.wdi.umich.edu/Publications/VideoAudio/SESpeaker.

4

S O C I A L E N T E R P R I S E

The Social Enterprise research initiative focused on content creation the past year. Research

Manager Kelly Janiga taught a successful new MBA-level course, added to its working papers

library, and took the initial steps towards publishing a practitioner book on the topic.

researchupdate

Andy Lawlor

(center), a lecturer

of Entrepreneurship

and Strategy at

the Ross School,

teaches the Social

Entrepreneurship

Course with WDI’s

Kelly Janiga.

Social Entrepreneurship CourseOffered for Second Year

Scott Hillstrom (above) CEO

of the HealthStore Foundation

REVIEW | W I N T E R 2 0 0 8 www.wdi .umich.edu

Social EnterpriseResources WDI’s Web site hosts hundreds of resources on Social Enterprise, including business and policy briefs, academic papers, reportsfrom multilateral organizations and industry consulting firms, and scores of the latest articles from various media outlets. Go to: www.wdi.umich.edu and click on“Resources” under Social Enterprise in the left-hand column.

5

Two WDI Staff GivePresentations at Brazil Event

WDI LAC NGO

Alliance coordinator

Andrea Shpak and

WDI Social Enterprise

Research Manager

Kelly Janiga.

Kelly Janiga and Andrea Shpak of WDI gave apresentation at the 2nd Annual AvapeInternational Congress on Rehabilitation andInclusion—Diversity, Responsibility andSustainability—in São Paulo, Brazil.

Janiga, WDI manager of the Social Enterpriseresearch initiative, discussed social franchisingand how it can be—in different contexts—an innovative approach for NGOs to generaterevenue as well as an effective method forreplication and scale.

Shpak, WDI Social Enterprise coordinator,talked about the Institute, its Social Enterpriseresearch initiative and the role WDI is playingin facilitating the development of social enter-prise in Latin America and Central Europe.

The Avape Conference brought together morethan 500 leaders from the private, NGO andpublic sectors to discuss the increasinglyimportant role the three sectors play in socialvalue creation, with a particular emphasis onthe inclusion of people with disabilities.

Ross Net Impact Chapter Hosts ForumThe Net Impact chapter at the Ross School of Business hosted a two-day forum in January on the positive role that businesscan play in society. Net Impact is an international organizationof more than 10,000 students and professionals committed toserving the social and environmental good through business.WDI was a forum sponsor and helped the students with someconference logistics. Also, WDI's Ted London introduced keynotespeaker Jacqueline Novogratz and moderated a workshop onthe base of the pyramid.

The forum, “Leading in Thoughtful Action,” explored how corporations around the world are beginning to see the value of incorporating social and environmental issues into their corestrategies, and how civil society organizations are partneringmore often with the private sector to achieve public benefits.

A number of panels, organized by career and industry, allowedforum attendees to network with representatives from the private,non-profit, and public sectors and to learn more about the significance of these issues for future leaders.

The forum also featured three keynote speakers. Net Impactco-founder Mark Albion opened the event on Jan. 17. The nextmorning, Andy Lock, vice president and chief administrativeofficer at Herman Miller, spoke about the benefits of involvingthe company’s employees in community projects.

Novogratz, founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund, delivered theluncheon keynote speech. She lauded the Ross students for tryingto make a difference in society.

“It’s extraordinary to see the sea change that I really believe ishappening in your generation that’s refusing to accept the statusquo and yet is blending a really wonderful mix of idealism andpragmatism,” she said.

For the past two years, the Ross School of Business has bestedmore than 150 other chapters from around the world to win the“Chapter of the Year” award. The Ross chapter was cited for its“continued growth, its high level of activity and engagement,its influence on the Ross community and its efforts to assist thedevelopment of other Net Impact chapters.”

For more information on Net Impact and Net Impact at the Ross School of Business, see www.netimpact.org andwww.rossnetimpact.org.

Andy Lock, vice

president and chief

administrative officer

at Herman Miller.

S O C I A L E N T E R P R I S E C O N F E R E N C E

6

researchupdate

Brasilprev President

Eduardo Bom Angelo

T he conference, held in São Paolo, Brazil, in conjunction with InstituteGESC, was designed to shine a light on the valuable work of social

enterprise leaders across Latin America. The gathering also highlighted thebroad range of business and organizational innovations that are occurringin the nonprofit sector in the region, as well as some of the innovativemodels developed by WDI partners in Central and Eastern Europe and theUnited States. Lastly, the conference was an opportunity for conferenceattendees to develop relationships with their global colleagues.

At the conference, case studies were presented in three tracks. The areaswere: social enterprises, including proven strategies to grow revenue andbuild capacity; management tools, such as issues related to developingleadership in the third sector; and IT innovation, including indicatorsand results of innovation initiatives

Key findings in the revenue generation track were: ■ Opportunities are abundant ■ The largest barriers are often within the organization■ It is important to have appropriate solutions to raise money

Other conclusions on revenue generation at the conference were that NGOsmust understand their “customers,” and that while difficult, partnershipsare very important.

Regarding management, the lessons learned included:

■ Over the last 10 years, US NGOs have strived to become more “business-like”

■ Brazilian NGOs are quickly matching this trend■ Conference attendees will close the gap faster

www.wdi .umich.edu W I N T E R 2 0 0 8 | REVIEW

Latin American NGOs Share BestPractices, Innovations

About 150 members from more

than 80 NGOs from Brazil, the U.S.,

Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela,

Costa Rica, Chile and Nicaragua attended

the WDI conference “Third Sector

Innovation: Sustainability and Social

Impact” (TSISSI) in August.


7Also, critical new capabilities in managementare an emphasis on teamwork and partnerships,the capacity to respond to rapidly changingenvironment, and the ability to take advantageof global interconnectedness.

Key findings in the information technologytrack were:

■ Technology increases productivity, leavingmore time to devote to your organization’score work

■ An IT plan can help your organization and mission

■ Training and development can break organizational barriers to technology

■ Technology can help obtain communitycommitment to ensure the ultimate successof your mission

“Out of necessity, innovation in the third sectoris spreading across Latin America much quickerthan in other places,” said Kelly Janiga, wholeads the Social Enterprise research initiative atWDI. “Philanthropy in Latin America lags behindits U.S. counterparts. Also, there is a lack ofdonors in Latin America so NGOs based therehave no choice but to employ market-basedapproaches so they can compete.

“The models that were presented at the conference gave people ideas that they couldtake back to their own organizations andimplement.”

Jose Serra, governor of São Paolo, and GilbertoKassab, mayor of São Paolo, welcomed attendees on the conference’s first day. Theopening plenary session featured WDI ExecutiveDirector Robert Kennedy, Microsoft ExecutiveDirector Michael Levi, and Brasilprev PresidentEduardo Bom Angelo.

The second plenary featured a talk by MelvynLevitsky, who served as U.S. Ambassador toBrazil from 1994-98.

All plenary talks, as well as presentations onprofessionalism in the third sector, excellencein management, building social opportunitiesand IT strategies for emerging markets, werevideotaped. Those presentations, along withthe speakers’ slides, are available at:www.impactosocial.org.br/english/default.aspx

Conference proceedings are available inEnglish and Portuguese.

“The participants thought the conference wasgreat,” said Andrea Shpak, Social Enterprisecoordinator at WDI, who spent several weeksin Brazil organizing the event. “These third sector

organizations have never experienced an academic organization bringing an opportunity todiscuss topics that are really relevant to them.”

Together with the Erb Institute for GlobalSustainable Enterprise and the Zell LurieInstitute for Entrepreneurial Studies, both atMichigan’s Ross School of Business, WDIextended fellowships to six students to attendthe conference. Those attending were: RenataSoares, Dan Wang, Emily Reyna, Andy Hastings,Andy Davis and Matthew Welch.

At the conference, the students presented thevarious ways that students are able to havesocial impact at the school. The students also gathered the key findings from the threeconference tracks.

“It was a nice opportunity for the studentsand a good collaboration with Erb and ZLI,”Janiga said.

The support of the conference sponsors —Microsoft, healthcare giant Roche, financial

analysis firm Serasa, Instituto C&A, and BRPetrobras — also added to the conference’s success, Janiga said.

“The conference was fully funded by corporatesponsors,” she said. “There’s real momentum inBrazil for supporting these types of activities.”

Left: Ricardo Montoro,

Secretary of Partnership

for São Paulo.

Conference Returns to São Paolo in 2008WDI and Institute GESC are pleased to announce that they will co-hostthe second annual international conference, “Third Sector Innovation:Sustainability and Social Impact,” in August. The conference will onceagain focus on the social enterprise work being done across Latin Americaand the innovation and best practices these organizations are employing.

WDI’s Kelly Janiga said it is unusual to repeat a conference a yearlater in the same place. But she said there was so much positivefeedback and momentum after the 2007 event that the decision wasmade to organize a second conference in 2008.

For more information on the 2008 conference and the call for papers, go to:http://www.wdi.umich.edu/NewsEvents/Conferences/Brazil2008.Information is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish.


B A S E O F T H E P Y R A M I D

8

“Including these four billion people in theglobal economic system is perhaps one of society’s greatest challenges,” Londonsaid. “Our goal for the conference was tobuild on the growing global interest in venture-based strategies for serving the four billion poor at the base of the pyramid.”

It’s been a decade since C.K. Prahalad, a WDIDistinguished Fellow, and Cornell University’sStuart Hart, a WDI Distinguished Scholar, firstbroke ground on the revolutionary school of thought centered on what they termed the“bottom of the pyramid.” In short, the twoproposed that innovative business strategiescould serve and empower some four billionpeople who live on less than $2 per day, typically in developing countries.

Instead of perceiving the poor as victims who can only be helped through donations,their theory holds that the poor are resilientand creative entrepreneurs who also arevalue demanding consumers.

In his research at WDI, London is pushingBoP thinking beyond Prahalad and Hart’sfoundational work toward the next significantphase: alleviating poverty. This was his primarygoal in organizing the “Business with FourBillion” forum, which was held at the Universityof Michigan on September 9-11.

“WDI has taken a leadership role in exploringthe unique dimensions of the BoP perspectiveon poverty alleviation,” he said. “In particular,WDI’s expertise lies in a deep understandingof the opportunities for implementing the BoPperspective in the field, an ability to evaluatethe full range of poverty alleviation impacts ofBoP ventures, and a collaborative approach tocreating business models that incorporate thevoices of those at the base of the pyramid.”

The “Business with Four Billion” forum wasco-hosted by WDI and the Center for SustainableGlobal Enterprise at Cornell University. The eventdrew nearly 400 people from more than 30countries and six continents. Attendees included

business managers, policymakers, socialentrepreneurs, academics, nonprofit expertsand development agency professionals eagerto explore ways in which BoP thinking couldbe used to alleviate poverty.

Sponsors included Michigan’s Ross School ofBusiness, the Frederick A. and Barbara M. ErbInstitute for Global Sustainable Enterprise atU-M and Procter & Gamble.

Looking forward, London said that WDI willcontinue to pursue field-based collaborations,conferences and research partnerships toenhance the world’s understanding of market-based approaches to alleviating poverty.

“That’s WDI’s niche,” he said. “WDI and Rosshave great competence in the business strategyof BoP with C.K. and others. As a complementto that, WDI has expertise in this new povertyalleviation perspective. Our goal is to create and share new actionable knowledge that hasimmediate practical implications.”

researchupdate

Conference Looks at How BoP Can Help Poor

Ted London, director of WDI’s BoP research initiative, used the same photograph of African

schoolchildren at the beginning and end of the September conference “Business with Four Billion:

Creating Mutual Value at the Base of the Pyramid.” He was eager to put a face on the world’s

poorest citizens — the ones who live at the base of the pyramid. A leading expert on the role and

impact of market-based strategies on poverty alleviation, London said he felt the picture would be a

powerful reminder to those attending the conference of what is at stake in BoP research and activity.

Left: Rob Katz of

the World Resources

Institute speaks with

conference participants

during a networking

session.

Middle: BoP

conference attendees

observe the

demonstration of a

clean water product.

Right: Conference

attendees gather

around a $100

laptop on display.


9

Such activities will improve the capabilities of companies, nonprofits and developmentagencies at the base of the pyramid to understand and enhance the poverty alleviationimplications of different types of businessventures, which is crucial in maximizing positivelocal outcomes, London noted.

Forward movement to maximize positive outcomes is critical, agreed Prahalad, thePaul and Ruth McCracken DistinguishedUniversity Professor of Strategy at the RossSchool of Business. He was just one of severalhigh-profile speakers lending expertise to the “Business with Four Billion” conference.

Other key speakers included:

Kobus De KlerkGlobal lead, the Solae Company (a DuPont subsidiary)

Helene GaylePresident and CEO, CARE USA

Stuart HartSamuel C. Johnson Chair in SustainableGlobal Enterprise at Cornell

Al HammondVice President, World Resources Institute

Scott E. JohnsonVice President, SC Johnson & Son

Bob KennedyExecutive Director, WDI

Ted LondonDirector of the BoP research initiative, WDI

Timothy MahoneyDirector of the Office of Poverty Reduction,U.S. Agency for International Development

Luis Alberto MorenoPresident, Inter-American Development Bank

Carter RobertsPresident and CEO, World Wildlife Fund

The conference closed with a pledge to keepthe discussion going well into the future.Robert Kennedy, WDI executive director, saidhe sensed less tension among the differentsectors than he did three years ago at the last BoP conference in San Francisco.

“I believe there is a sense of communityhere,” he said. Kennedy urged the group to

maintain a regular, ongoing forum thatencourages collaboration among differenteconomic, cultural and religious sectors.

“We need to have a better understanding ofwhat’s unique about a BoP approach to povertyalleviation compared to other strategies,” Londonnoted. The “Business with Four Billion” conference was an important step in reachingthat understanding.”

Videos, Slides from SeptemberConference OnlineFor those who missed the September BoPconference — or for those who would like toview some of the presentations again — theconference website www.bop2007.org hasvarious conference materials, including videos and presentation slides.

The slides used by the plenary speakers alsoare available.

Erik Simanis,

co-director of the BoP

Protocol Project, shares

some standard practices

in working at the base

of the pyramid such as

removing your shoes

and sitting on the floor.


B A S E O F T H E P Y R A M I D

WDI Releases MajorBoP/SE ReportWDI continues to make its mark as the globalleader in base of the pyramid (BoP) and socialenterprise (SE) research as it successfullycompleted an 18-month assessment for the U.S.Agency for International Development (USAID)and its partner nonprofit organization, Pact.

The report, titled “The Base of the PyramidPerspective and the Social EnterpriseMethodology: Understanding the Facilitating Role for Development Agencies,” examines theexperiences that development agencies have hadin implementing both BoP and SE approaches.The report also provides recommendations thatshare the best practices from these efforts.The report offers an analysis of current effortsand a roadmap for how these organizationscan best stimulate and support BoP venturesand social enterprises.

WDI is preparing to extend the impact of thisgroundbreaking work throughout the developmentcommunity with the creation of communicationtools, knowledge sharing, and technical assistance programs focused on supportingdevelopment agencies’ efforts to catalyze thegrowth of a portfolio of BoP ventures.

“This report will influence how developmentassistance toward the poor is shaped and prioritized in many years to come,” saidKhalid Al-Naif, director of WDI’s DevelopmentConsulting Services.

BoP Course a PopularChoice for StudentsThe MBA course on doing business at thebase of the pyramid taught by Ted London waspart of the fall curriculum at the Ross School.This is the third year London has taught theclass “Business Strategies for the Base of the Pyramid” at U-M.

Fifty students enrolled in the class, whichintegrates concepts of strategy, internationalbusiness, non-profit management and povertyalleviation to stimulate the leadership skills andcompetitive imagination needed to design BoPventures and implement the BoP perspectiveon poverty alleviation. Through a combinationof cases, readings, lectures, videos and outsideguests, class sessions engage students indiscussions geared towards: 1) identifying theopportunities associated with a new povertyalleviation perspective aimed at serving BoPmarkets; and 2) developing the strategies,business models and partnerships required to effectively explore those opportunities.

Interest in Ross EmergingMarkets Club GrowsMembership in the Ross School’s EmergingMarkets Club, which has a keen interest inthe BoP, has increased significantly the pastcouple of years. Ted London, director of WDI’sBoP research initiative, serves as the club’sfaculty advisor.

The club, which was formed about five yearsago, now has more than 90 members.

“The interest in BoP is growing phenomenally,”said Meghan Herwehe, an MBA2 student andclub co-president along with Aparna Sundaram.

Club members meet to discuss recent eventsor projects and to talk about upcoming plans.Students also can join committees, which meetmore frequently, for projects the club is currentlyworking on.

The club also has participated in severalactivities on campus and off. These include:

DC Career Trek: A two-day trip toWashington, D.C. to meet with companies and nonprofit organizations that focus their work in emerging markets.

Student Career Panel at Ross: Current EMCmembers talked about their experiences workingin emerging markets, either prior to graduateschool or during their summer internships.

Social Events: The club had a fall potluckfeaturing foods from around the world; aDecember dinner at Blue Nile Ethiopianrestaurant; and a BoP holiday party hosted by London at his home.

London Joins X Prize BoardTed London has joined the board of advisorsfor the Global Entrepreneurship X Prize. The X Prizes, presented by the X Prize Foundation,are multi-million dollar awards given to thefirst team to achieve a specific goal that isset by the foundation and has the potential tobenefit humanity. The prizes are designed to spur innovation by tapping into a person’scompetitive and entrepreneurial spirits.

Joining London on the board include top leaders from organizations such as GrameenFoundation, UNICEF, the World Bank, UnitedNations Foundation and Ashoka.

WDI BoP BrochureAvailable OnlineThis fall, a new brochure was developed for the BoP research initiative. A pdf versionof the brochure is available online at:www.wdi.umich.edu/BoP

BoP Video LibraryThe WDI BoP video collection has added interviews with David McGuire of the Academyfor Educational Development and Brian Trelstadof the Acumen Fund. To see the interviews, go to: www.wdi.umich.edu/Publications/VideoAudio/BoPVideos

The Base of the Pyramid research initiative, under the direction of Ted London, continues to build

its reputation as a global leader in exploring BoP strategies and market-based approaches to poverty

alleviation. This includes releasing a groundbreaking report, hosting a major BoP conference, generating

cutting-edge research, collaborating with partner organizations in the field, and teaching an MBA

course at the Ross School.

10

researchupdate

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www.wdi .umich.edu

G L O B A L I Z A T I O N O F S E R V I C E S

researchupdate

How important is global delivery of businessservices today? What is fueling its growth?

Tiger: We believe that global delivery ofbusiness services is really a part of an overallsweeping change that corporations are goingthrough, of evaluating what is best delivered fromwhere in the world. This is a very importantphenomenon because as it has an impact on cost structures in an economy, it changescompetitive landscapes and it accelerates“speed to market.” The continued growth isbeing driven by the availability of talent andskills in different parts of the world, driven by demographics.

How are companies benefiting from globalization of business services?

Tiger: Labor cost advantage is expected,and it is an important but small portion of thebenefit. There are two other clear benefits:globalization becomes a catalyst to drive thestandardization and simplification of processes,unleashing the “power of process” and therebyimproving productivity and quality of output; andthese “expert global teams” drive continuousimprovement and data analytics for betterbusiness outcomes.

What are the major risks and challengesthat your customers worry about?

Tiger: Loss of control is a very commonworry, the fact that work is now done 10,000miles away. We mitigate this extensively by

partnering with our customers in building andrunning a “virtual captive operation” for ourclients so they feel that their work is being doneby their own people. We also focus on bringingreal-time visibility to the processes that wetake over through metrics and dashboards.

The other thing a lot of our customers worryabout is “loss of knowledge” due to attrition.A number of the global delivery locations andcountries like China, Eastern Europe and Indiaare experiencing hyper growth in every sectorof their economy. So attrition is a real challenge.

What do you expect to see over the next fiveyears that might surprise our readers?

Tiger: Over the next five years some of uswould be very surprised with the type of workthat will be delivered globally. Imagine anexecutive in New York who finishes a meetingat 6 p.m. and scans a set of flip charts andsends it off to a set of analysts and contentdevelopers in India who overnight pull togethera presentation that captures the essence of thenotes to be used for a 7:30 a.m. breakfastmeeting with a client. Or a sales team that getsto know of a prospect that they have decidedto target the next day, and the research andfinancial analyst teams in the global deliverylocation in China or India pull together all thefinancial, organizational and other informationthat arms the sales team the next morning todo a very compelling sales call to win a deal.

Czech Republic, PolandSubject of LatestOffshoring ReportsIn February, reports on Poland and the CzechRepublic will be added to WDI’s “Global IT &Business Services Destination” country series.U-M student Sean S.H. Huang travelled to thetwo countries, interviewed several businessand government leaders and conducted fieldresearch. The two reports examine things suchas local talent, infrastructure, governmentincentives, labor laws, risks and challenges.

Last year, the Institute published reports onChina and South Africa. (The reports can befound at: www.wdi.umich.edu/ResearchInitiatives/Globalization.)

“Of late, these countries are attracting a lot of attention in the world of business services.This is an attempt to better understand theopportunities that they offer,” said Ajay Sharma.

Kennedy Appointed toEquaTerra Advisory BoardWDI Executive Director Robert Kennedy hasjoined the EquaTerra Advisory Board. The boardadvises EquaTerra’s senior management onstrategy, international expansion, acquisitions,and organizational strategy. EquaTerra is oneof the leading offshore advisory firms, with225 consultants deployed globally.

“EquaTerra has been a terrific research partner for WDI over the past four years,”Kennedy said. “I’ve gotten to know the senior management team through research collaborations, consulting engagements andconference participation. I am honored thatthey have sought my counsel and look forward to a long and productive relationship.”

The Globalization of Services research initiative has focused on content creation, with three main

efforts. First, an MBA course on GoS is proceeding well, with eight new cases nearing completion.

Second, Executive Director Robert Kennedy and WDI Senior Researcher Ajay Sharma, who leads the

Institute’s GoS initiative, are well along with their book, “The Services Shift, Seizing the Ultimate

Offshore Opportunity,” due out in fall 2008. Finally, the Institute has published a series of Global

Destination reports that provide in-depth analyses of various offshoring locations.

A Current View of OffshoringVN “Tiger” Tyagarajan is the executive vice president and head of sales,marketing and business development for Genpact, one of the world’sleading suppliers of business services and technology solutions. RobertKennedy spoke at a twice-yearly forum sponsored by Genpact for seniorcorporate executives from around the world. Kennedy interviewed Tigerfor the Davidson Review about the current state of offshoring.


E X E C U T I V E E D U C A T I O N

12

Oracle ManagersParticipate in Two-PartCustom ProgramTwenty sales directors from Oracle gathered inRiga, Latvia for WDI’s Strategic ManagementProgram.

Oracle managers and team leaders from 10countries in central and Eastern Europe andthe CIS participated in the custom certificateprogram that featured sessions on marketing,strategic human resources, organizationalbehavior, strategy, and finance. The first weekof the program took place in July and the second week in November.

During the four-month break between July andNovember, the participants worked on teamprojects with their assigned team members.The team projects used concepts and theorieswhich were presented in July to develop a

business plan for entering a new market. Theypresented their projects at the conclusion of the program in November.

“I was really impressed with the StrategicManagement Program,” said Eric Solc, channelsales manager for Oracle from the CzechRepublic. “I am now able to calculate andcommunicate the financial and strategic benefits of my ideas.”

Pavlos Hadjidemetriou, alliances and channelsdirector for Oracle in South East Europe andAustria, said the program gave him an “excellentopportunity to gain more insights and applyout-of-the-box thinking towards the strategicand financial aspects of my daily work.”

The Strategic Management Program is “basedon a compact, meaningful, and essential curriculum in Marketing, HR, Financial Analysis,Strategy and Organizational Behavior aspects,”he said.

WDI to OfferProfessionals Programsin HR, Marketing,OperationsWDI Executive Education is planning to launcha series of “professionals programs” in 2008.The first two will be a Marketing ProfessionalsProgram and an HR Professionals Program. AnOperations Management Professionals Programis planned for 2009.

The programs are designed to equip executiveswith the latest best practices and managementtools in their functional area.

The Marketing Professionals Program, whichlasts six days, will give participants a newapproach to marketing and a set of sophisticated,state-of-the-art marketing tools for achievingsuccess in a competitive and changing world.

As part of the program, each participant willbring their greatest marketing challenge to theprogram and present it during the six days.They will be asked to apply new learning totackle that challenge and others they face intheir work. Fellow participants also will givesuggestions on how to tackle problems at work.

Program topics include: ■ Internet-based marketing■ Web surveys■ Use of consumer panels■ Pricing models■ Channel design■ Relationship management■ Brand management

WDI’s Executive Education continues to expand its partnerships with universities and organizations

around the globe. In the fall of 2007, Executive Education delivered seven programs in Latin

America in cooperation with their Latin American partner. Partnerships with universities in

Croatia and Turkey also continued to grow, with a mini- MBA held in the fall in Zagreb and three

programs held in Istanbul. A highlight of this fall was delivery of a very successful custom mini-MBA

certificate program for 20 sales directors from Oracle from throughout Central & Eastern Europe

and the CIS. In the spring of 2008, Executive Education looks forward to delivering a record

three mini-MBAs certificate programs and to start work with its newest partner, University

of New York in Prague, to offer a mini-MBA program.

programupdate

Sales Directors from

Oracle at a custom

Strategic Management

Program in Riga.

Working in teams,

participants compared

best practices across

countries and developed

new business plans.


13

■ Global marketing■ B2B marketing■ Services marketing■ New product development

The HR Professionals Program, which lastsfour days, gives participants new models and a practical set of tools for enhancing theirHR department. The program also will helpattendees make a greater strategic impact intheir company. Best practices in the field of HR will be shared.

Just like the marketing program, participants in the HR program will be asked to bring their biggest HR challenge and present it. HR professors and peers from across the HR industry will discuss solutions to eachparticipant’s challenge.

■ Change management■ Learning and talent development■ Managing a global workforce■ Talent management■ Talent sourcing strategies■ Compensation■ Linking HR and organizational strategy

“The new line of WDI Professionals Programs isdesigned to offer in-depth learning and cutting-edge tools to managers by function,” said AmyGillett, director of Executive Education at WDI.“The participants will join a group of their peersacross industries and will share best practiceswith each other over the course of the week.Participants will also discuss the challengesthey are facing in their organizations and exploreways the new tools they learn can be used totackle these challenges.

“These programs were created in response to managers’ demands to drill down deeperon topics of interest. Our popular mini-MBAprograms cover 4 topics in 10 days. Theseprograms focus on a single functional area for an entire week – giving more chance toexplore the area in great detail.”

Record Number AttendHRN WorkshopA record number of participants attended the WDI Human Resource Network Fall 2007Workshop in Prague, Czech Republic.

The two-day workshop, attended by 32 HRexecutives from across Central and EasternEurope, was led by Noel Tichy, professor ofOrganizational Behavior and Human ResourceManagement at the Ross School of Businessat the University of Michigan.

The workshop borrowed its title from the nameof Tichy’s recently-published managementbook, “Judgment: How Winning Leaders MakeGreat Calls.’” Each workshop participantreceived the book and it was used to spurdiscussion during the two days.

Tichy has dedicated his career to helpingcompanies transform their performance byembedding leadership teaching and learning atall levels of the organization. He is the founderand editor-in-chief of the Human ResourceManagement Journaland the author ofnumerous books andarticles where drawingfrom the examples of winning companies,he provides thoughtful and, most importantly,actionable answers on how to develop leaders in the 21st century. He also consults widely in both the business and private sectors.

WDI’s Human Resource Network (HRN) is theleading professional forum for HR executivesactive in Central and Eastern Europe. Memberscreate a powerful peer network at professor-ledseminars, best practices-sharing workshops,and informal information exchanges throughoutthe year.

In addition to Tichy, recent workshop leadershave included management gurus Lynda Grattonand Henry Mintzberg.

Mini-MBAs to beOffered in Riga, PragueAfter a successful program in 2007, WDI will once again partner with the Stockholm School of Economics for a 10-day StrategicManagement Program in Riga from May 12-23.The two-week program will offer four moduleson Marketing, Strategy, Finance and LeadingChange. WDI expects 25 participants, primarilyfrom the Baltic region.

The Institute also will offer a mini-MBA programin Prague with a new partner, University of NewYork in Prague. The dates for that program willbe in May 19-30.

WDI faculty affiliates from the University of Michigan and other leading U.S. businessschools will lead the sessions. Many of thecases and examples used in the classroom arebased on WDI’s experiences with companiesthat operate in emerging and transitionalmarkets around the world.

Executive Education BrochureA new brochure on all of WDI’s ExecutiveEducation programs is available for viewingonline. To view the PDF, go to:

www.wdi.umich.edu/EE.

Peter Pohlner

from Lafarge and

Erik Slingerland from

Egon Zehnder discuss

HR strategies at

a WDI HR Network

meeting in Prague.

www.wdi .umich.edu

Doris Tomanek from

Bank Austria and Petr

Draxler from IBM do

some one-on-one peer

coaching at a recent WDI

HR Network Workshop.

D E V E L O P M E N T C O N S U L T I N G S E R V I C E S


Rwanda SFB ProjectBegins Second Year WDI’s higher education development project with the School of Finance and Banking (SFB)in Kigali, Rwanda has entered its second year.The goal of the project is to establish SFB asa regional center of excellence in business education by strengthening the administration,developing faculty capabilities in research andpedagogy, improving the curriculum and creatinglinkages with the business community.

WDI’s first order of business in the area ofadministration was to organize an internationalsearch for the position of Rector, and to establisha selection process for two Vice Rector positions.Dr. Krishna Govender, formerly the academicdirector of the Graduate School of BusinessLeadership at the University of South Africa, washired as Rector by WDI last July. Dr. Govenderwas recently joined by Dr. Erasmus Kaijage fromthe University of Dar Es Salaam, who will serveas Vice Rector for Academic Affairs. An internalcandidate, Nathan Gashaija, will serve provi-sionally as Vice Rector for Administration.

While the search for administrators was takingplace, WDI organized workshops and individualmentoring for SFB faculty and staff. Workshopswere delivered in curriculum reform andcourse development; organizational structure and governance; and faculty development, consultancy and research.

Through WDI support, several SFB facultymembers will be traveling to the U.S. thisacademic year as part of the mentoring process.WDI will also deliver additional workshops inKigali aimed at faculty development.

Visit To WDI, U.S. EnergizesCenter LeadersInspired by meetings with WDI staff, U-M professors and U.S. marketing officials, representatives of the Marketing Education andResearch Center (MERC) at the InternationalAcademy of Business (IAB) returned to Almaty,Kazakhstan with new ideas on how to bettermake its presence felt in both the local businessand international marketing communities.

As part of the partnership project between IABand WDI, Yelena Penchukova, executive directorof MERC, and Alexander Ruzanov, president ofBrif Research Group, visited the U.S. in Augustto attend conferences, meet with the professorsand receive training at WDI.

At the American Marketing Association’s (AMA)annual Summer Educators’ Conference inAugust, MERC made significant connectionswith the AMA and marketing professionals inthe U.S. Penchukova also attended the HigherEducation Development (HED) Synergy 2007Conference held in Washington, D.C. where sheshared the accomplishments and challengesof the project at a roundtable discussion.

The highlight of this visit was the meeting

with the AMA’s Detroit Chapter. Shown how

AMA operates at the national, local and campus

levels, Penchukova explored different

management models and products that MERC

might offer.

The MERC business model was further refinedas Penchukova met with marketing professorsand career service professionals at Michigan’sRoss School of Business during her visit toAnn Arbor.

After they returned to Kazakhstan, IAB wasasked to host the first international conferenceto take place in Kazakhstan devoted to direct marketing.

Since the outset, the project has been enhancingthe capacity of MERC to build a sustainable,cooperative partnership with the private sectorthat will foster the economic development and increased competitiveness of Kazakhstanbusinesses. Specifically, WDI has been providingMERC with technical assistance through the co-development of a management plan,and delivery of train-the-trainer workshops.The goal is to strengthen IAB’s capacity to provide commercially-viable solutions tomeet local demands for specialized trainingand market research.

The project is administered by the HigherEducation for Development (HED) through theAmerican Council on Education (ACE) and fundedby the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID).

14Development Consulting Services made considerable gains during 2007, while having a positive impact

in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Southeastern Europe. DCS is currently managing a portfolio

of seven ongoing projects, including work in Rwanda, Algeria, Jordan, Kazakhstan and Cyprus. The

department is also working on, or has submitted 18 new proposals. Focus areas include: higher

education development, private enterprise development, natural resources management, eco-tourism

and policy management. The pipeline of promising projects bodes well for strong near-term growth.

programupdate

Yelena Penchukova

of MERC and

Ayako Ariga of WDI.


15

www.wdi .umich.edu

Jordan Sparkles with JEWELWDI has a three-year agreement with HigherEducation for Development to implement theJordanian Education for Water and EnvironmentalLeadership —or JEWEL—project. It wasdesigned by WDI with the objective of empow-ering leadership and decision-making. It alsowill create resources and knowledge networks toimprove decision-making in integrated naturalresources management in the HashemiteKingdom of Jordan.

WDI’s partnership with the Government of Jordan

is ambitious and focuses on developing leaders

at all levels in the public, private and community

sectors. The aim is to help future Jordanian

leaders understand how to use and develop new

decision-support tools for natural resources

management.

WDI has completed three consulting engagements in the past few months.

Dr. Carl Dutto, a development consultantbased in Cairo, carried out a naturalresources management needs assessment.Dutto verified that the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) has thecapacity to develop a MS program in naturalresource management.

Dutto surveyed Jordanian faculty, students,and private sector and government officials.The assessment reviewed current curriculums,content, and past and existing programs.

Dr. Mark Milstein of Cornell University workedin Jordan on the curriculum for the new MSprogram in Natural Resources Management.Milstein built consensus among faculty andstudents at JUST and developed a vision of whatthe MS degree should represent, including a strong emphasis on the development of management and leadership skills.

He stressed the fact that traditionally natural

resources management tends to be too heavy on

natural resources and anemic on management

as well as the role that private enterprise has

in NRM.

In his presentations, Milstein emphasized the necessity for research and development,strategic management skills and the knowledgeof finance and investment in order for the projectto succeed. His work will be on-going throughoutthe life of the project.

And Khalid Al-Naif, director of WDI’sDevelopment Consulting Services, visitedJordan to work with the JEWEL stakeholderson the annual implementation plan.

All indicators are that the JEWEL will havetremendous impact in Jordan, a country facingsubstantial environmental challenges that areaggravated by the scarcity of water and energysupply, deterioration of water resources, landcontamination, desertification, mismanagementof land use and air pollution.

“WDI has made a lot of effort to ensure that its partnership goes beyond training to also incorporate the principles of integratednatural resource management and to focus on multidisciplinary training and experience,”Al-Naif said.

WDI Pioneers EcotourismAmong Turkish CypriotsNearly 1,200 visitors—more than double whatwas expected—visited the northern Cyprusvillage of Buyukkonuk on Oct. 21 for a specialday to celebrate ecotourism in the region

WDI consultant Keith Sproule trained the village tourism committee on special-interesttourism and event mangagement. He alsowas a key driver in planning for Eco Day.

During the day-long celebration, villagers from Buyukkonuk sold traditional food items,handicrafts and produce from the region. Therewere demonstrations of traditional Cypriotdancing, mud brick making, broom makingand olive preparation. There were bike racesand donkey rides, and a group of local boystook some tourists on a tour of the village.

Female Career MentoringNetwork Formed at INC A newly-organized career network connectingfemale Algerian business managers and femalestudents at the Institute of National Commerce’sCareer Center has created great excitementand enthusiasm.

The business managers were anxious to sharetheir experiences with the female studentsabout the realities of the business world.Likewise, the students were eager to interactwith the successful female managers, feelingit would provide them with a unique perspectiveand insight into how to succeed after theygraduate from INC and begin their careers.

The idea for a networking group began with adiscussion between the Career Center’s Director,Dr. Ali Belkhiri and WDI Consultant Tom Devlin.The director then hosted a meeting with severaltop female managers from the Association desAlgeriennes Managers and Entrepreneurs. Theyall agreed that a support network would be anexcellent opportunity to share their knowledgeand mentor the next generation of femalebusinesswomen in Algeria.

The Career Center was established last May as result of a Middle East University PartnershipProgram between the Institute of NationalCommerce in Algeria and WDI. It is adminis-trated by Higher Education for Development.

The objectives for the Career Center’s first yearof operation include: 1) identifying summeremployment opportunities; 2) identifying post-graduate employment opportunities; 3) promoting and marketing the Career Centerto students and employers; 4) gathering information about the labor market and learning about the needs of employers; and, 5) establishing a mentoring network for femalestudents with female managers.

Dancers in Cyprus

WDI Consultant

Mark Milstein (left)

listens as

Parliamentarian

Nariman Rusan

(middle) is questioned

about natural and

cultural resources

management.

“The past six months have been busy,” said Professor John Branch,director of Educational Outreach. “We are developing an innovative educators’ forum that will support case sales and knowledge sharing by leading international business educators. Development is progressingwell and we anticipate a spring 2008 launch. Our team of researchassociates has been actively researching and writing a number of casesand other teaching materials.”

The educators’ forum, dubbed GlobaLens, will serve as both a source of,and outlet for, teaching materials in international business. Designed forprofessors, instructors, teachers and trainers of international business,GlobaLens will boast:

■ a catalogue of international cases and other teaching materials■ a course builder tool which simplifies the creation of new international

courses using sample course outlines and syllabi■ an educators’ community space which facilitates discussion about

international teaching materials, courses and teaching issues

“GlobaLens puts power in the hands of professors,” said ChristopherSimmons, WDI image programmer, who is leading the developmenteffort for the forum. “It allows them to find and purchase cases with a click, create syllabi from the best snippets of our professors’ courses— kind of like a salad bar for syllabi—plus share best practices.”

The forum has already generated great interest outside the Institute.“The response to GlobaLens has been overwhelmingly positive,” said

Branch, recounting discussions with professors at conferences aroundthe world. “They can barely wait to see it live.”

Several professors have already submitted cases for consideration,including one about a Bulgarian meat-processing cooperative which isfacing financial problems. Other professors have contacted Branchabout sharing their course outlines.

WDI’s own team of research associates — Grace Augustine, Moses Lee,Mariana Orloff, and Dave Vannette — has also produced a number of cases, with dozens more in the works. These involve collaboration withboth WDI associates and faculty from Michigan’s Ross School of Business,and represent the full range of teaching materials, in terms of geography,business function, topic and product type.

Augustine, for example, has been working with Professor Susan Ashford,the Associate Dean for Leadership Programming and the Executive MBAProgram at Ross, to develop a leadership crisis simulation which will beused in winter 2008 as part of the MBA leadership initiative. The simulationis set against an environmental crisis at an Indian pharmaceutical producer,and is designed to exercise ethical decision-making under realistic timeand resource pressures.

Lee completed a case in October about a not-for-profit organization inLos Angeles which is expanding its operations to Vietnam. Lee visited Saigonin mid-2007 while preparing the case. “It is an amazing country with anincredibly dynamic environment,” he said. “This case does a great jobof highlighting some of the challenges of conducting business there.”

Orloff returned recently from a visit to the Whirlpool headquarters inBenton Harbor, Michigan where she was interviewing senior managersabout the new alliance which Whirlpool has signed with Habitat for Humanity.Under the agreement, Whirlpool will be the sole supplier of appliancesfor all Habitat housing projects worldwide. Under the supervision of WDISocial Enterprise research manager Kelly Janiga, Orloff will write two cases,each looking at the alliance from one of the partner’s perspectives.

Vanette has completed a case on Infosys, a leading Indian servicesprovider, as it struggles to decide on a location for its new global hub.He has also begun a conceptual note on country selection which professors might use in conjunction with the case when teaching lessonsabout international expansion. “Location, location, location, as the oldreal estate motto goes,” Vannette said. “It is equally true for companiesas they internationalize.”

Look for these and other new teaching materials coming out of theresearch associate pipeline. And prepare yourself for the exciting launch of GlobaLens in spring 2008.

E D U C A T I O N A L O U T R E A C H

program

New Initiative Prepares for Spring ’08 LaunchEducational Outreach is making great strides in both developing and disseminating teaching

materials in international business.

update

16

Jacqueline Novogratz,

founder and CEO of

Acumen Fund, shows

off the finished case

on Acumen written

by Moses Lee of

WDI during a recent

talk at U-M.



17

www.wdi .umich.edu

In fall 2005, WDI’s board of directors askedExecutive Director Bob Kennedy to explorewhether it made sense to expand the Institute’ssupport to more areas of the University. WDIis located at Michigan’s Ross School of Business(RSB) and, for most of its 15 years, focusedits programmatic support on the RSB, FordSchool of Public Policy, the Department ofEconomics and several joint degree programs.

Kennedy spent the next six months meetingwith administrators from around the Universityto understand their existing and aspirationalpriorities for international research, programs,and field learning opportunities and to assessthe fit between these opportunities and WDI’smission. Kennedy targeted programs focusedon developing countries that had either the potential for high impact on the ground, or expanded field learning opportunities for students.

In November 2006 he recommended two collaborations to WDI’s board. The first involvedsupporting student internships and research on global health issues at the School of PublicHealth. The second was a joint RSB-MedicalSchool project at a hospital in Uganda.

Both programs were approved and launchedin winter 2007. In spring 2007, a secondMedical School program, focused on pediatricmedicine in Ghana, was approved. This programwas launched in fall 2007.

School of Public Health In the summer of 2007, WDI supported 10student internships under two programs. Fivestudents were part of the Cancer EpidemiologyEducation in Special Populations program. Thestudents studied reproductive factors in Egypt,Tunisia and Morocco, glaucoma in Uganda,breast cancer in India, bladder cancer in Egyptand pancreatic cancer in the Middle East and North Africa.

Five additional students participated in theCenter on Global Health internships. Theirwork focused on malaria prevalence in Kenya,

transmission of dengue fever in Ecuador, HIVtreatment in Rwanda, traumatic occupationalinjuries in Tanzania and HIV testing attitudesin South Africa.

WDI also supported research by MargaretKruk of the School of Public Health on thedeterminants of health care utilization inwestern Tanzania. The goal of the study is to improve doctors’ understanding of factorsthat influence the utilization of obstetric andemergency medical/surgical care at healthfacilities in the Kasulu district.

In the next phase of the study, Kruk willexamine whether upgrades to health centerscan effectively address some of the barriersidentified in the first phase of the study. Barriersincluded transportation, drug availability, andprovider attitude.

Medical SchoolVirika Hospital | UgandaA partnership between the Ross School of Business and the Department of FamilyMedicine at the Medical School is working toupgrade clinical and administrative performanceat Virika Hospital in Fort Portal, Uganda. Ateam of MBA students visited the hospital earlyon in the project to suggest administrativeimprovements as part of the RSB’s MAP program.At the same time, a medical student and aphysician from the Medical School reviewedthe clinical practices of the hospital and cameup with some recommended changes.

In August 2007, Paul Clyde from the Ross School conducted a two-day workshop with25 of Virika’s staff with the goal of developinga financial self-sustaining approach to providinghealth care services in western Uganda.Using the data and recommendations fromthe MAP and Medical School students whovisited earlier, the staff broke into groups to identify long-term goals.

A couple of months later, the staff began workingon the goals, including a rotation program,training programs and data gathering procedures.

Also in the fall, a medical student spent a monthat Virika gathering data on surgical proceduresand helping to develop a protocol for reporting.

Near the end of 2007, a team of MBA studentsworked on a more detailed plan for the hospital’smaternity operation. Also, a doctor, the headnurse and the chief administrator from Virikavisited U-M to observe practices at the university’s hospital and to meet with doctors,nurses and administrators.

In winter 2008, a team of medical studentsand faculty will visit Virika to help divide theout-patient department into an emergency roomand an outpatient clinic. The move will helpsurgeons better manage their time and improvethe performance of both surgery and the OPD.

GhanaIn spring 2007, WDI announced funding for a second Medical School program organizedby the Department of Pediatrics andCommunicable Diseases that focused onpediatric medicine in Ghana.

The goals of the project are to: provide relevant,in-country training in pediatrics in order to retainhighly-qualified pediatricians; train currentand future pediatricians who have sufficientknowledge and skills to provide high-quality carefor children; develop a productive and long-lasting academic collaboration between U-M’sDepartment of Pediatrics and CommunicableDiseases and the University of Ghana MedicalSchool and the University of Science andTechnology School of Medical Sciences.

U-M faculty met with key leaders in Ghana’sMinistry of Health and with the director forHuman Resource Development in the GhanaHealth Service. Meetings also were held withthe deans of the medical schools and chairsof Pediatrics of the Ghana partner schools. Allwere enthusiastic about expanding the oppor-tunities for training pediatricians in-country.

A sustainable funding model is being workedon for U-M faculty who will visit Ghana in thecoming months to teach some short courses.

C R O S S - S C H O O L C O L L A B O R A T I O N

S U P P O R T I N G

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A C T I V I T I E S A T

M I C H I G A N

SPH, Medical School Programs Going Well

Angela Georgopolis,

a Genetic Public Health

student, conducted

research at the National

Cancer Institute of Cairo

University in Egypt.

S U P P O R T I N G



M I C H I G A N

speaker series

W I N T E R 2 0 0 8 | REVIEW

18

www.wdi .umich.edu

Chetna Gala Sinha, founderof a microenterprise development bank andan NGO designed to aid rural Indian women,talked about her mission to educate andempower women at the Sept. 19 event. She is the founder and chairwoman of MannDeshiMahila Sah Bank Ltd., and Mann Vikas SamajikSanstha NGO. Among the many things the bankand NGO offer are loans and business education.

She said it became apparent, after startingthe bank, that the women needed more thanjust money. They needed support.

“So we started a business school,” Chetna said.“The idea for the school was that it not onlyprovided training and skills, but also informationon markets, financial planning and budgeting.”

And for those women in remote villages whocan’t get to the school, a “business school onwheels” was developed. A bus drives to thevillages to teach the women the skills neededto manage their money.

Chetna is proud to say that the loan repaymentrate at her bank is 98.5 percent. “But behindthat is a very struggled life,” she said. “It’s noteasy to repay the loan. They force themselvesto be good repayers.”

Chetna is adamant that the “bank makes surethat whatever money is made comes under thecontrol of women.”

Peter Bendor-Samuel, the founder and chief executive officer of theEverest Group, spoke Oct. 10 about the interesting times in global services these dayswith hundreds of smaller, swifter startupsaround the world challenging the entrenched,traditional services providers.

The Everest Group is a leading global businesssolutions advisory firm. Bendor-Samuel’sindustry-leading expertise results from morethan two decades of crafting significant,large-scale outsourcing and partnering solutions.His unique understanding of both buyer andservice provider perspectives has significantlyshaped the methodology and analytical tools Everest Group employees use to craftsophisticated, enduring business solutionsthat capture and sustain optimal value.

Bendor-Samuel said globalization of services isone of the key business megatrends, with specificassets and specialization “and it’s all runningdownhill on the backs of labor arbitrage.”

“It’s really one of the big, big forces for changein global business today and it’s picking upspeed,” he said. “And it’s picking up speed inlots of interesting ways. There are maturingpieces but there are new pieces, too, takenout of the back office not just to save moneybut to embed it in the product structure.”

David McGuire, a programdirector for a nonprofit organization workingglobally to improve education, health, civilsociety and economic development, spoke atWDI on Nov. 15. McGuire is a program directorat the Academy for Educational Development(AED) based in Washington, D.C. He has gainedrecognition as a leader in the relatively newand growing field of public/private partnershipsfor sustainable development.

He has educated high-level stakeholders inministries of health, the commercial sector, andthe international donor community on the useful-ness and cost-effectiveness of public/privatesector collaboration through shared risk andjoint investment. He also is director of AED’sCenter for Private Sector Health Initiatives. The center designs, brokers, and implementsmutually beneficial partnerships with the privatesector to create sustainable health impacts.

McGuire said despite his organization’s successes, he is constantly worried aboutstriking a balance between public healthimpact and sustainability.

“How can we break the cycle of dependencyon donor-funded programs? Ultimately, it’seconomic growth and job creation that’s liftingChina and India, that has lifted South Koreaand Indonesia, out of extreme poverty,” he said.

WDI recently hosted four guest speakers and one panel discussion with five speakers as part

of its Global Impact Speaker Series. The series features leading thinkers who work in emerging

markets and aims to spur discussion around development and developing country issues. In addition

to their talks, the speakers also sat down for one-on-one video interviews which can be found at:

www.wdi.umich.edu/Publications/VideoAudio.

19


Brian Trelstad, chief investmentofficer at Acumen Fund, spoke Nov. 29 at theGlobal Impact Speaker Series. The Acumen Fundis a non-profit global venture fund that usesentrepreneurial approaches to solve the problemsof global poverty. It seeks to prove that smallamounts of philanthropic capital, combinedwith large doses of business acumen, can buildthriving enterprises that serve vast numbersof the poor. The fund’s investments focus ondelivering affordable, critical goods and services—like health, water, housing and energy —through innovative, market-oriented approaches.

Trelstad oversees a portfolio team of 15 professionals working in four countries with$28 million in approved investments in socialenterprises in health, water, housing, andenergy. Before joining the Acumen Fund,Trelstad spent four years at McKinsey &Company as a consultant in the healthcareand non-profit practices, and as an editor of the McKinsey Quarterly.

The investment model at Acumen has shiftedover time. Before, Acumen would supportentrepreneurs with grants. And while they still do some of that, Acumen now favorsequity investments. “We act like a venturecapital fund or commercial bank in supportingthe capital needs of these businesses,”Trelstad said.

Acumen typically looks for investments thatreturn 8-10 percent over 5-7 years.

“With a limited supply of philanthropic capital,we think that supporting businesses that generate revenues from user fees or fromselling products that the poor need and wantcreates the potential to sustain impact overtime,” Trelstad said.

Panel DiscussionOn Dec. 5, WDI hosted a panel discussion on healthcare microfranchising with an entrepreneur who launched franchise healthshops, a Kenyan nurse who runs a shop andtwo Emmy-award winning producers whochronicled the operation.

The nonprofit healthcare organization, CFW Shops, launched franchise health shops in Kenya to spread for-profit clinicsaround the country in the hopes of providingquality, affordable medical care to even thecountry’s poorest people. Scott Hillstrom, a Minneapolis-based entrepreneur, founded the HealthStore Foundation to try out his theory on healthcare franchising.

Hillstrom said there is a “3 Point Test” thatany large-scale public health intervention mustmeet in order to be successful. Those are:

Must Maintain Standards■ Patients are properly diagnosed and treated■ The business format is easily replicated

Must Be Geometrically Scalable■ If it takes 5 years to grow 50 outlets,

the network grows to 250 outlets in thenext 5 years

Must Achieve Economies of Scale■ The larger the network grows, the lower

the cost to treat each patient

As part of its series called “EnterprisingIdeas,” Dan Logan and Jennie Amias of thePBS news show NOW chronicled CFW Shopsand its struggle to overcome obstacles likeextreme poverty, corruption, cheaper servicesand long distances to establish a sustainedsolution to a chronic problem.

Joyce Rukungu, a registered nurse in Kenya,owns and operates a CFW Clinic. She said the backing of a franchise network makes itmuch easier to procure medicine and offerconsistent service.

“It has not been easy. I need a lot of patience,”she said. “To make this clinic succeed, wehave to do a lot of record keeping. Recordkeeping is the most essential thing in a clinicbecause that is how you know whether youare succeeding or not.”

www.wdi .umich.edu

(below photo: from

left to right) Dan Logan,

Jennie Amias, Scott

Hillstrom, Annie Barton,

Joyce Rukungu

S U P P O R T I N G



M I C H I G A N


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www.wdi .umich.edu

internships

John Gearen B R A Z I L

This past summer I worked with social entrepreneur Fabio Rosa and his organizationIDEAAS, which loosely translates to Institutefor Development of Alternative and Solar Energy.Fabio has a dream of extending his Light ForAll program throughout Brazil.

Before arriving, Fabio and I agreed that I wouldhelp write a preliminary business plan for thenewest arm of IDEAAS—a business whichwould develop solar-powered lanterns to sellto shrimp fishers on the coast of the southernBrazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

In keeping with IDEAAS’ methodology, themarket assessment for the business plan wasdriven by primary research. I spent days in arow in the field talking to shrimp fishers abouttheir household electricity uses, fishing practices,the season’s catch, and number of householdappliances, among other things. This approachwas critical to get a sense of the customers’needs and an idea of their day-to-day life.

The summer’s lessons were a combination of new learnings and old ones remembered:BoP business ideas have great promise, but areexactly as stable as the income of the customersthey serve. Renewable energy is energy- andcarbon-efficient, but is powerfully vulnerableto competitive and public policy forces.

I gave IDEAAS a financial model which evaluateddifferent sales approaches; a business plandraft that outlined the market opportunity andchallenges; a carbon additionality calculationthat could be used to solicit Kyoto CDM (CleanDevelopment Mechanism) funds; and anorganized profile of the customers who makeup their target market.

Juan Carlos QuinteroM E X I C O

Monterrey was my home last summer when I worked with Cemex in one of their newest Baseof the Pyramid (BoP) initiatives: the CentrosProductivos de Autoempleo (CPAs).

The initiative is designed to provide qualitybuilding materials to low-income families

throughout the country. My work was to designan effective way of measuring the impact thatthis project has on the people and communitiesthat it seeks to benefit. This involved thinkingabout poverty in its many dimensions—usinga framework that Ted London from WDI hasdeveloped—and using it in the context wherethe CPAs are working. It also required under-standing the different techniques available formeasuring impact and determining causality, andcoming up with mechanisms—questionnairesin this case—to collect information.

Several issues stand out as I look back at this experience. The first is the many ways in which culture permeates business, and theneed to adapt quickly to these changes. Thesecond was how the project forced me tocombine knowledge from many courses andskills from several disciplines at the sametime, and what a challenge—but certainly a very interesting one—this is. The third was getting first-hand experience with thechallenges of making theory work for real-world problems.

In Their Own WordsFive WDI Summer Interns Write About Their Experiences

As part of its support of international activities atU-M, WDI organizes field experiences around theworld— either as part of the MultidisciplinaryAction Projects (MAPs) at the Ross School ofBusiness or as participants of the Institute’sGlobal Impact summer internships.

WDI organized eight MAPs in spring 2007,allowing students to spend seven weeks workingfull-time with international organizations. Some

of the MAP students’ work included designinga business model, examining structural andoperational issues, creating a framework toimprove processes, writing a business plan,plotting an entry strategy, implementing afranchise model, and analyzing logistics systems.

The summer interns’ work included creatingscaling-up strategies, writing a business plan,researching a strategic assessment, formulating

a growth strategy, analyzing data collection,developing a needs assessment, and conductingresearch. “An important part of WDI’s missionis to provide experiential learning opportunitiesfor U-M students,” WDI Executive DirectorBob Kennedy said. This is a great experience for the students, and it also helps WDI stayengaged with leading-edge organizations.”

John Gearen (left) Juan Carlos Quintero

21


Shara Senior E L S A LV A D O R

My summer internship was with CARE CentralAmerica, based in El Salvador. Along with twofellow interns, I wrote a business plan for CARE.The objective of the plan was to take theirbusiness development and microfinance institutions out of the NGO, and to incorporatea for-profit entity that could be scaled andwould be sustainable.

I traveled every day to the CARE offices in San Salvador and worked a typical work day.However, key to the project was a trip toHonduras to gain insights from staff workingat a CARE business development programcalled Proexport. This visit helped us identifychallenges encountered by Proexport andallowed us to think critically about how thenew entity could help resolve these issues.

Our end product was a business plan so myfellow interns and I divided up certain sections.We tried to leverage our backgrounds andrelationships to the project. I helped write thefirst draft of the business plan and served asthe person who connected the MAP and summerportions of the project.

Being in front of a client and having to solvetheir real world problems is something that youcan’t get out of a textbook. Having to continuallyrevise the plan so that it not only meets theclient’s needs but also addresses the politicsof the organization has been a revelation. Thoseare the types of details that you really don’t getin class. It really helped me to look at problemsas I see them and to determine how realisticallysolutions can be implemented.

Another thing that this project really made meaware of was how nonprofits operate and someof the challenges of attracting funding and thencreating scalable and sustainable results.

Nina Henning I N D I A

This past summer, I did my internship with theScojo Foundation in Hyderabad, India. ScojoFoundation is a non-profit social enterprise thatworks to improve the economic condition offamilies in the developing world by broadeningaccess to affordable reading glasses. ScojoFoundation trains micro-franchisees, or“Vision Entrepreneurs,” to run profitablebusinesses conducting vision screenings withintheir communities, selling affordable readingglasses, and referring people requiring advancedeye care to reputable clinics.

I worked this summer in collaboration withProfessor Ted London, WDI’s director of the BoPInitiative, and classmate Puneet Singh, to designand implement the data collection process for afirst-of-its-kind BoP Venture Impact Assessmentstudy. The purpose of the study is to measurethe poverty alleviation impacts of the Scojomodel on rural market stakeholders, therebyhelping to move Scojo beyond their anecdotalsuccess stories to the collection of quantifiableeconomic, capacity and relational impacts ontheir entrepreneurs and customers.

The adjustment to living and working in Indiawas not a big challenge for me. What I foundto be one of the most challenging aspect of mysummer was designing accurate and usefulsurvey instruments for our pilot study. A keyelement of refining these instruments was theability to “pre-test” them in the field beforefinalizing them. I’ve continued to be engagedwith the Scojo Foundation since I’ve returnedto school this fall, as the pilot study is still inprogress, and I was tasked with preparingfollow-up survey instruments for the next roundof data collection. The final data collection andanalysis will be complete by Spring 2008.

Kirsten NolandG E R M A N Y

This summer I interned with digital media centerGmbH (DMC) which is located in Stuttgart,Germany. DMC provides comprehensive e-business solutions for firms. My internshipwas through WDI’s Globalization of Service (GoS)Initiative. As such, I was tasked with identifyingpotential markets into which DMC could expand.It was a fantastic opportunity to act as a consultant for a growing and dynamic firm.

Initially, I worked closely with colleagues tounderstand DMC as a company. They answeredquestions about how the firm is organized, whotheir clients are, and what their business modellooks like. With this information, I drew-up adetailed project plan and began my analysis. I looked at both the supply and demand for e-business in a variety of countries.

Apart from one other colleague, my work wasconfidential. I had weekly meetings with mysupervisor, Managing Partner Daniel Rebhorn,to discuss my findings. I presented my recommendations at the end of the project.

My summer internship at DMC was a greatexperience. It gave me a valuable perspectiveon how European business operates, and it wasone that I could have only gained by workingabroad. My internship at DMC also taught mea lot about data, research, and the challengesthat one encounters on a consulting project.Working at DMC was a wonderful opportunityand unlike anything I have ever done before.

2007 Internships

Acumen Fund New York CityKipp Baratoff, Molly Christiansen

AshokaBrazilRenata Sonores

CAREEl SalvadorBlair Miller, Steve Spaulding, Shara Senior

CemexMexicoJuan Carlos Quintero

DMC GermanyKirsten Noland

E+Co.New York CityErin Cready

EquaTerraNew York CityAparna Sundaram

IDEAASBrazilJohn Gearen

Hippo Water RollerSouth AfricaCynthia Koenig

MacDonald AssociationBrazilHenrique Costa Oliverira

Minlam Asset ManagementNew York CityJen Anderson

Mitra Technology Fdn.IndiaChawla Kaveesh

The Mountain InstituteNepalJeff Martin

National SmallholderFarmers AssociationMalawiJessica Goldberg

NextServicesIndiaMunish Ghandi

ScojoIndiaNina Henning

ServLife Int’lSouth AfricaPatrice Harduar

Teang TnautCambodiaJohn Scott Railton

University of South AfricaSouth AfricaRoxanne Ryan

Vital Wave ConsultingCosta RicaMichelle Brown

Shara Senior (second from left) Nina Henning (second from right) Kirsten Noland (center)


22

www.wdi .umich.edu

in transition; providing internships thatallowed U-M students to work in Polandand the former Soviet republics; andfunding fellowships that allowed U-Mscholars to conduct research in the field.

Snyder was executive director for four years,leaving in 1996 to return full-time to thebusiness school. At that point, WDI lookedto build up the research side of the Instituteand undertook a national search to findSnyder’s replacement. The search identifiedJan Svejnar, an economics professor at theUniversity of Pittsburgh, who was recruitedto be WDI’s second executive director.Svejnar had been one of the chief architectsof the Czech Republic’s economic reformsof the early 1990s and served as an advisorto Czech President Vaclav Havel.

“Jan came in when the Institute was just getting going and turned it into a first-class research institute,” said RobertJ. Dolan, Dean of the Ross School ofBusiness and president of the WDI board.

Svejnar was co-founder of CERGE-EI inPrague, a graduate program that trainseconomists from the former Soviet bloccountries. Under Svejnar, the Institutehelped establish or assisted in the development of American-style businessschools in emerging markets such as the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan and the Ukraine.

During his time as executive director,Svejnar invested heavily in creating aninternal research capability. One successwas a transition economics working paper series that ranked among themost-downloaded in the world.

“We became the gateway to emergingmarkets for the business school and theentire university,” Svejnar said.

During this time, WDI also brought onformer U.S. Secretary of State MadeleineAlbright as the Institute’s first distinguishedscholar. She hosted a number of roundtablediscussions on Capitol Hill and she spoke tothe U-M community on several occasionsregarding international issues of the day.

After eight years at the helm of WDI,Svejnar stepped down to devote himselffull-time to research.

By the early 2000s, the transition in Centraland Eastern Europe had progressed significantly and businesses wereencountering cutting edge issues in othergeographies, such as China and India.Theses new global trends led to a shift in strategy at the Institute.

In May 2004, the WDI Board of Directorsannounced that Robert Kennedy, thenserving as the Institute’s associate director,would become WDI’s third executivedirector. Kennedy, who also is a professorof business administration, came to theInstitute in September 2003 from Harvard.

Responding to changes in the internationalbusiness environment, Kennedy de-emphasized academic discipline andgeography (economics and Central Europe)as organizing principles, and redirected theresearch effort toward broad trends. Theseincluded: the globalization of services;doing business at the base of the pyramid;and social enterprise. He insisted thatthese efforts span both academic and

practitioner applications, and that they collaborate with other initiatives at the Institute.

Kennedy also invested in building capabilities of the Institute’s DevelopmentConsulting Services (DCS) and pushedWDI’s Executive Education (EE) to growand become self-sufficient.

The strategy has borne fruit. DCS hasquadrupled in size, is a leader in Base of the Pyramid, policy management, andhigher education development programsfor USAID and other development agencies.Executive Education has more than doubled revenues and tripled the numberof executives served each year.

The Institute also is seeing much closercooperation among initiatives. For example,DCS and EE have worked together to provide training for policy makers andbusiness school capacity building for theGovernment of Rwanda. DCS and two of WDI’s research initiatives have teamedon a market-based poverty alleviationproject of the United States Agency for International Development.

Kennedy has also expanded programmaticsupport for international activities at the Ross School and across the University.The Institute’s support of studentMultidisciplinary Action Projects (MAPs)and summer internships has grown substantially, and WDI now supportsinternships and field research efforts atthe schools of Public Health and Medicine.

Looking forward, Kennedy said several newresearch initiatives are being considered. He expressed optimism that the new

Educators’ Outreach initiative will broadenWDI’s impact and raise its profile in theeducator community.

White, now president of the University of Illinois, said he saw great potential

for the Institute back when heannounced the creation of theWilliam Davidson Institute.

“We had high hopes for the Institutewhen it started 15 years ago,” saidWhite, who served as the first presidentof WDI’s board of directors. “I’m glad to see the William Davidson Instituteachieving the great successes that was

predicted for it back in 1992. The goal ofthe Institute back when it was formed wasto make a difference around the world.It’s good to see WDI is doing that.”

Dolan said the initial vision for WDI was“prescient and ambituous.”

“We are proud that the Institute has built and evolved its capabilities over the years to address consistently themost pressing global economy issues of the day," he said. "It is a great asset for the University of Michigan.”

Kennedy said the success of WDI startswith founder Bill Davidson.

“Mr. Davidson has been extremely supportive.” Kennedy said. “His generosityhas created a unique place that links the best of U-M with the challenges indeveloping countries around the world.WDI is a special place that has grown andevolved in unexpected ways over thesepast 15 years. It’s an exciting place to beand I look forward to the next 15 years.”

> C O N T I N U E D F R O M C O V E R

A WDI summerintern

surveysa

familyin Mongolia

(2005)

NY Times columnist Thomas Friedmantalks at a WDI roundtable on

Capitol Hill (2004)

Executive Director Robert Kennedywith Rwanda President Paul Kagame andhis family (2006)

Participants in a WDI

Executive Educati

on HR Network

workshop. (20

07)


The challenges facing the next president of theUnited States will be daunting, but U.S. Rep.Tom Lantos, chairman of the House ForeignAffairs Committee, said he is very optimisticabout the future “for a very simple reason.”

“The civilized world will prevail,” said Lantos,who spoke Oct. 29 at Rackham Amphitheatreat a talk sponsored by WDI and the Ross Schoolof Business.

“The civilized world is most of us. It’s China,India, Brazil, Russia, the U.S., Canada, GreatBritain,” Lantos told the audience. “But we willprevail with less cost if we in this country againbecome united. And not be afraid of dialogue anddiplomacy. My message to the next presidentis dialogue and diplomacy.”

Lantos, whose lecture was titled “U.S. Foreign Policy in the Next Decade,” is currentlyserving his 14th term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and is the only Holocaustsurvivor ever to serve in Congress.

As chairman of the House Committee onForeign Affairs, Lantos has played a leadingrole in U.S. international relations for morethan two decades. He has a strong record onenvironmental protection, has been a consistentsupporter of public education, and is a

leader in congressional oversight of federalgovernment programs.

Lantos said the Iraq war has been costly—in human terms with the dead and wounded,and in monetary costs.

“But the greatest cost would be the turninginward of the American people and to not beengaged in the world in 2009,” Lantos said.

The task of the next president will be to persuadethe American people that there is no alternativethan to take a leading role in international affairs.

The image of the U.S. internationally has takena beating, Lantos said, adding that the nextpresident must “begin the painful, laborious,time-consuming job of rebuilding the credibilityand prestige” of the U.S. around the world.But, he said, “I’m afraid it will take more than8 years.”

The next president also needs to bring a degreeof humility, a degree of openness and a seriouswillingness to listen, to listen with the possibilitythat he or she may learn something.

A dialogue with Iranians is a must, Lantos said.Without dialogue, he said, the U.S. is unable totake the first of many painful steps to normalizedrelations with the country.

“Diplomacy is not surrender,” Lantos said.“Dialogue is the single most important initialstep to make it feasible to live in a nuclearage without incident.”

Lantos said he was struck, while watching therecent PBS series on World War II, was howunified the country was back then.

“The number one task of the next president,”he said, “is to truly unite this country.”

Kennedy Receives Tom Lantos ProfessorshipTom Lantos has served on the board of the William DavidsonInstitute since its inception in 1992. To honor his contributionsto WDI, an endowed professorship was established in Lantos’name. WDI Executive Director Robert Kennedy was the firstrecipient.

After his talk, Lantos was the guest of honor at a luncheonattended by members of the University of Michigan community,including the WDI Board and University President Mary Sue Coleman.

Lantos talked about his connection to Michigan— namely, hisfriendship with Bill Davidson and Ralph Gerson “who have bothtaught me more about economics than I learned during my Ph.D.work at the University of California-Berkley because now Iunderstand how these concepts are applied by experts.” Gersonis the executive vice president of Guardian Industries and hehas been a WDI Board member since the Institute’s founding.

Davidson said he wanted to honor Lantos because of his long,valuable service on the WDI Board, his wise and thoughtfulcounsel, and his dedication to improving the lives of so manypeople in emerging economies.

“Tom Lantos has been an inspiration for so many people, includingme,” Davidson said. “He has taken the hardships of his earlylife and turned them into the motivation to work to improve theeconomic well-being and quality of life of many people.”

“He has a wealth of experience, having worked in both the academic and public sectors for many years,” Davidson continued.“He has been quite strategic in his vision and he has guidedour Board toward programs that are most effective and provideboth insights and benefits to emerging economies.”

Kennedy, the first Tom Lantos Professor of Business Administration,said he was honored.

“I’m happy to be the first recipient of the Tom Lantos chair,”Kennedy said. “Congressman Lantos has beenan invaluable mentor to me in building theInstitute and has done a tremendousamount the last 15 years to guide WDI in the right direction.

“Having an academic chair is a big honor, and I am happy that it is named after someone I respect so much.”

Lantos Outlines the Future of U.S. Foreign PolicyI R A Q . I R A N . A F G H A N I S T A N . N O R T H K O R E A .

23

U.S. Representative

and Chairman of the House

Foreign Affairs Committee

Tom Lantos

WDI Executive Director

Robert Kennedy.

THE WILLIAM DAVIDSON INSTITUTEAT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

N O N - P R O F I T

U . S . P O S T A G E

P A I DA N N A R B O R , M I

P E R M I T N O . 1 4 4

William Davidson Institute

724 East University Avenue

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1234

Tel 734.763.5020

Fax 734.763.5850

www.wdi.umich.edu

▼

Big Picture MarketingMarch 24-25 | Turkey

Talent ManagementApril 3-4 | Chile

Strategic Management ProgramNovember 17-28 | Slovakia

HRN WorkshopApril 17-18 | Slovakia

Brand EquityApril 21-22 | Guatemala

Strategic Management ProgramMay 19-30 | Czech Republic

Strategic Management ProgramMay 12-23 | Latvia

Talent ManagementMay 29-30 | Panama

LeadershipJune 25-26 | Costa Rica

Services MarketingJuly 3-4 | Chile

Sales ManagementJuly 10-11 | Dominican Repupblic

Marketing PlanningJuly 10-11 | Chile

Services MarketingJuly 17-18 | Guatemala

Effective Sales ManagementAugust 11-12 | Chile

HRN WorkshopAugust 28-29 | Czech Republic

Strategic Account ManagementSeptember 18-19 | Costa Rica

Operations ManagementOctober 6-7 | Chile

Strategic Account ManagementOctober 20-21 | Chile

LeadershipOctober 23-24 | Dominican Republic

HR ProgramSeptember 30-October 3 | Uruguay

General Management ProgramJune TBA | Croatia

Marketing Professionals ProgramOctober 20-24 | Latvia

Services MarketingNovember 12-13 | Costa Rica

www.wdi.umich.edu/EE

24

Creating, aggregating, and disseminating intellectual capital on important business and policy issues in emerging markets

executive education

2008

conferencesInnovation in the Third Sector: Sustainability and Social ImpactAugust 2008 | São Paolo, Brazil

speakersAlcely Barroso | February 6 | Microsoft of BrazilPeter Marquera | March 5 | SPi of New York

calendar

WDI Davidson Review Winter 2008

Documents

Transcript of WDI Davidson Review Winter 2008