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July 03, 2007
Massey School Welcomes New Associate Dean
Dr. Joe Alexander arrived July 1 to take on the position of associate dean and senior professor of performance excellence of the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business. Alexander comes to Belmont from the University of Northern Colorado where he has served as dean of the Monfort College of Business since 2002.
Under Alexander, UNC’s business school won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2004, the only business school to earn that honor. The Baldrige Award is given annually to businesses, educational institutions and health care organizations judged to be outstanding in seven key areas, including leadership and strategic planning. Dr. Alexander is currently the chair-elect for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Foundation.
"Dr. Joe Alexander is a national leader in the field of performance excellence and academic management," Pat Raines, dean of the College of Business Administration, said. "His passion for improving organizational efficiency will enhance the graduate programs that we offer at Belmont and add value to the service we provide to the Nashville business community. The prospect of Joe joining our community has everyone associated with The Massey Graduate School excited about the future."
Dr. Alexander’s philosophy of service is, "...to serve where needed and to do so in a manner that is above and beyond stakeholder expectations." The Massey School welcomes him to Nashville and looks forward to serving along with him.
Graduate School Offices have Moved
As part of an ongoing reorganization of office space in Barbara Massey Hall, the Graduate office has been relocated to BMH 447 (formerly the Curb College of Music Business Offices). Dr. Alexander and Tonya Hollin can be found in the new office. The Career Development Center has moved to MC 415 (the former Graduate School Office).
Networking Opportunities
Massey Networking Luncheons are held on the third Thursday of every month (some exceptions apply during holiday months) and provide Massey students and alumni with an outlet to stay in touch with classmates and meet new potential business contacts. If you are interested in attending a luncheon, please contact Londa Morgan to sign up for our monthly email list, londa@hardcastleconstruction.com or (615) 500-1443.
July, 19, 2007, 11:30 a.m.
PF Chang’s
2525 West End Ave.
Nashville, TN 37203
August 16, 2007, 11:30 a.m.
Gerst Haus
301 Woodland St.
Nashville, TN 37213
Also, Massey After Hours Networking is now a quarterly event. July’s After Hours Networking event will be held at the July 26th Sounds game. A minimum of 10 RSVPs are needed to confirm this event. Please contact Tad Wood, twood@horrellcompany.com, for more information.
Mark your calendars with these upcoming events!
September 20, 2007, 11:30 a.m.
BrickTop's
3000 West End Ave.
Nashville, TN 37203
October 18, 2007, 11:30 a.m.
Sunset Grille
2001 Belcourt Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
November 15, 2007, 11:30 a.m.
Mere Bulls
5201 Maryland Way
Brentwood, TN 37027
December 13, 2007, 11:30 a.m.
Amerigo
1920 W End Ave.
Nashville, TN 37203
Save the Date for the Massey Mixer
Mark your calendars: The Fall Massey Mixer will be held Thursday October 25th from 4:30 – 6:30 on campus (location to be determined). To add a new twist to the event we are partnering with UT-Knoxville’s MBA program. They will be inviting their local alumni and employer contacts and sending their second year students to attend. We are working on the employer invitations this month. If you would like for your organization to get involved or want to recommend a company to invite, email Lori LeBleu at lebleul@mail.belmont.edu.
Alumni Reception a Success
The Massey Alumni Association, in conjunction with the Massey Alumni Board, held the first Distinguished Alumni Award Reception on Thursday, May 17 at Watermark, in the Gulch. The occasion marked the 20th anniversary of the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business and culminated in the presentation of the Distinguished Alumni Award to Dr. Richard Treadway.
Dr. Treadway graduated with an MBA from the Massey School in 1999 and currently serves as chairman and CEO of Treadway Enterprises, LLC, the parent company of Treadway Clinic, Treadway Properties and Treadway Capital. Dr. Treadway is to be commended for both his professional achievements and his community involvement.
The anniversary celebration and awards ceremony was an excellent networking opportunity for current students, faculty and alumni.
Current Alumni President Cate Loes and President Elect Anthony Anderson.
Six Sigma Certification Available
Would you be surprised to learn that of the ideas generated to improve your bottom line or customer satisfaction only about one quarter of the ideas bring significant improvement, one quarter actually do harm, and one half make essentially no difference at all?
At Belmont we are no longer surprised. We have learned that there is a scientific method (ACE™) to find these “golden nuggets” that dramatically improve the bottom line. At this point you may be saying “What? How?”
Take, for example, a sales pitch used by service reps in a large telecommunications company. Analysis showed that some wording patterns (“I recommend this package which includes caller ID and many more optional services at ‘X’ dollars per month”) consistently brought better sales results. Others - reeling off all features of a package (20 features in all), or detailing all the benefits of another service - consistently resulted in lower sales. In short, a pattern emerged from the analysis. Some wording consistently sold. Other wording consistently did not sell. Conclusion? Use the wording that works. Saying less sold more. Go figure. The sales operation used the wording that worked - and saw its revenue per hour per service rep increase almost 50%!
How was this done? With a scientific method called Applied Cause and Effect analysis (ACE™) . This method involves obtaining ideas from the front line and analyzing a number of different combinations (usually 20-30) at the same time. Invariably the analysis turns up a winning combination – and invariably some of the results are surprising. An idea or a combination of ideas you are convinced would work, ….do not. And one you wouldn’t have given much of a chance is surprising successful.
When the analysis is completed and the results are in hand, it is always interesting to ask the people who requested this analysis to guess the three or so ideas that “helped the most” and the three or so that “hurt the most”. Only one out of several hundred people who have played this game has guessed even two of the critical core of ideas. Several dozen have guessed correctly on one. The great majority failed to place – failed to guess even one correctly. But maybe that shouldn’t be so surprising after all. If people could easily guess how to improve their results, they probably would have taken the appropriate action already. It’s the combination of ideas that produce the patterns of success or failure that people wouldn’t otherwise discern. Finding the right combination is what ACE™ is all about.
Belmont University wants to highlight these methods and is offering three premier courses : Continuous Improvement Analysis and Cross Functional Improvement Analysis I and II (includes ACE™). Our courses emphasize service companies and include one-on-one coaching provided by the instructor throughout.
1. Continuous Improvement Analysis (Six Sigma Green Belt) – 3 hours undergraduate credit in the College of Liberal Arts, $4200. This course teaches the principles of Six Sigma emphasizing the creation of the charter, researching the voice of the customer, measuring the status quo of a process, LEAN improvement solutions (streamlining work flows, differentiating value-added from non value-added work, one-piece flow, mistake-proofing, etc.) and how to control or sustain the gains. Because this course requires the student to complete a project, the instructor includes one-on-one coaching both in the classroom and on the clients’ site to ensure maximum transference of knowledge. Once students have completed this course they will have a Six Sigma Green Belt certification.
2. Cross Functional Improvement Analysis I & II (Six Sigma Black Belt I & II) – 3 hours graduate credit for each course towards the Master of Education degree in Organizational Leadership and Communication, 6 hours total, $8400. 3 hours graduate credit will transfer to the Master of Business Administration.
Pre-requisite: Continuous Improvement Analysis.
These two courses build on the knowledge gained from the Continuous Improvement Analysis course but focus on advanced topics that include cross-functional projects. These courses use the principles of Lean and Six Sigma as a base but add such topics as creating survey instruments to measure customer satisfaction, advanced statistical process control, measurement system evaluation, regression, normal theory and most importantly Applied Cause and Effect Analysis (ACE™).
Belmont’s courses are dramatically different from other courses. In our courses students will be required to complete a project that utilizes ACE™ where multiple ideas for improvement (20-30) will be analyzed simultaneously to find the “golden nuggets” that dramatically improve the bottom line. An actual case study analyzing 27 ideas simultaneously to increase sales (that resulted in an increase of $3M a month to the client) will be highlighted throughout the course. The instructor is an experienced ACE™ practitioner and includes one-on-one coaching both in the classroom and on the clients’ site to ensure maximum transference of knowledge. Once students have completed both of these courses they will have a Six Sigma Black Belt certification in either the Master of Education in Organizational Leadership and Communication or the Master of Business Administration.
Contact Cynthia Mc Lane at (615) 460-5566 or mclanec@mail.belmont.edu for more information.
Massey Students Return from Argentina
A group of Massey students, accompanied by Dean Raines, visited Buenos Aires, Argentina from May 14 to 19th. Students were immersed in Argentinean culture through cultural activities, city tours and a visit with elementary school children in a low income area of the city.
The trip also included visits to the local Ford Motors plant, Dow Chemical facility and the Arcor Candy plant. The group was also able to meet with a private energy company, Argentina’s national telecommunication regulatory agency, a state-owned water company and a local social services agency.
Know Europe 2007 is Underway
Twelve students from the Massey Graduate School of Business are currently abroad as part of the Know Europe trip. Know Europe brings together students from the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Honduras, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, China, Peru and Russia to study together and experience aspects of international business. Students will be returning in early July from their month abroad which included stops in Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona. Students are pictured during a visit to the EU Parliment.
