Willam E. Simon School of Business Rochester, New York 14627

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Connections

ey Move Us Forward As a member of the Simon alumni network, you understand the power of Simon’s worldwide connections. They open opportunities, o er professional development, and enhance our reputation for excellence and success.

We invite you to join us in New York and Chicago to connect your company with top Simon talent.

• New York City • Chicago, IL October 4, 2013 February 28, 2014 January 24, 2014 Contact the Simon School Career Management Center for more information. E-mail: [email protected] Call: (585) 275-4881 SIMON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS/UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER Fall 2013

SIMONBUSINESS

Connections

ey Move Us Forward Approaching As a member of the Simon alumni network, you understand the power of Simon’s worldwide the Summit connections. They open opportunities, o er professional development, and enhance our How Doug Petno used reputation for excellence and success. what he learned at Simon to scale the heights of Wall Street We invite you to join us in New York and Chicago to connect your company with top Simon talent. SIMON • New York City • Chicago, IL BUSINESS October 4, 2013 February 28, 2014 goes digital January 24, 2014 Download Contact the Simon School Career Management the app on Center for more information. iTunes E-mail: [email protected] Call: (585) 275-4881 An International Welcome New flags welcome Simon students, faculty, staff, and visi- tors in the Colonnade between Gleason and Schlegel Halls. The flags say “welcome” in 68 different languages and represent every home coun- try of Simon’s internationally diverse student body and broad team of business education professionals. They also reflect our School’s worldwide reputation of excellence. It’s another way we welcome the world to Simon.

JOHN SMILLIE WHO’S YOUR REPLACEMENT? Help continue the Simon tradition of excellence and refer a new student today. We trust our alumni to send us the very best. Invest in Simon today by referring top quality candidates to our MBA and MS programs.

E-mail the name and contact information of potential full-time students to Rebekah Lewin at [email protected], or potential Executive MBA or part-time students to Carin Conlon at [email protected]. Contents Fall 2013

2 Dean’s Corner 3 The Meliora Challenge Simon and the University Prepare to “Make the World Ever Better” 6 Upfront Simon Receives $1.5M Commitment for Endowed Finance Professorship Simon Students Win at Mark Ain Competition Simon School Venture Capital Fund Makes First Two Investments Commencement 2013: A Legacy and a Future College Town Breaks Ground Novy-Marx on Government Pensions Simon in the News 40 Members of the Class Research Highlights 12 30 of 2013 celebrate The Pulse of Advertising Quantifying Culture Entrepreneurial Commencement The Benefits of Debt A new way to look at employee India outside the Eastman Blue Firms Give More Green engagement. By Sally Parker The second largest country in Theatre. Competition Drives Cash the world is seeing a new era 16 in economic development. 46 Continuity in a Crisis By Hilary Appelman Alumni Leaders How preparing for the worst can Online Extra www.simon.rochester.edu/ Scott Thomas be the best. By Charla Stevens 36 simonbusiness Vice President of Kucko Consumer Marketing, Indescribable India SIMON BUSINESS NOW Cartoon Network A remarkable country is OFFERS A DIGITAL Carol Lustenader 24 quickly becoming one of the EDITION. AVAILABLE CFO Consultant, Controller world’s top economic powers. IN THE ITUNES APP at The Asia Foundation Second Home STORE, AND AVAILABLE By Janice Willett ’78S (MBA) ONLINE, THE WORLD Michael Cirami Simon continues to expand OF SIMON IS AT YOUR CFA and Portfolio Manager into New York City. By Charla FINGERTIPS. DOWNLOAD at Eaton Vance Stevens Kucko 38 THE IPAD APP TODAY FOR Simon Leads A DYNAMIC MULTIMEDIA 49 28 the Way in Shifting EXPERIENCE! Alumni News A Successful Balance Strategies Photo Album In Memoriam Doug Petno ’89S (MBA) Global leaders discuss flickr.com/simongsb/sets Class Notes inspires graduating students. recruiting the right talent. SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM Mergers & Acquisitions By Joy Underhill By Andrea Holland SIMON EVENTS

ANNETTE DRAGON Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 1 Dean’s Corner

A Network Connected

Simon pride. It’s a value we instill in our students, and alumni will be notified of leads that are rel- and it’s a principle our alumni carry with them evant for their career search, and can then pursue throughout their careers. From expert and well-in- each opportunity according to your directions. You formed business decisions to being an active mem- can also sign up for the service if you would like to ber of an alumni network that spans the be notified of job leads that may interest you. globe, our graduates proudly claim their Across the country and around the world, Simon heritage and continue to find ways Simon graduates are also using our main LinkedIn to make the world an ever better place. page, which boasts over 4,000 members and more While the Simon School has pro- specific regional pages to become more involved duced its fair share of top-level execu- with local alumni chapters. I encourage you to find tives like our cover profile,Doug Petno out more about both the virtual LinkedIn alumni ’89S (MBA), we realize not every gradu- groups in your area, as well as the in-person clubs ate will scale the heights of a world-re- that regularly organize social and professional net- nowned financial institution, nor will working events. They offer an incredible resource it be the call for everyone. Many of our for continued career development and provide alumni receive their business degrees to beneficial networking and social opportunities to pursue challenging and rewarding ca- stay connected with your friends, classmates, col- reers in other established fields, while leagues, and other Simon alums. others embrace the spirit of entrepreneu- Social media and rism and thereby opt to pursue their dreams and Staying connected also helps us celebrate your pro- the spirit of entre- innovate the future. fessional successes and personal achievements. As preneurship offer No matter your career path, your accomplish- the standard bearers for the School, you are our a unique opportu- ments, expertise, perspective, and involvement greatest ambassadors, providing unique reflections nity to stay con- strengthen the Simon alumni network and help of the academic excellence and highest values we nected with your make it an invaluable asset for job recruitment, offer here at Simon. To that end, I encourage you classmates and professional development, and qualified student to reach out and become an even more integral the Simon School. referrals. In the end, the stronger we make our part of the Simon network. We invite you to alumni network, the more opportunities for suc- You can stay connected through our main join us in person cess we can offer our graduates. LinkedIn group or by one of the many online re- and online, and to Of course, technology and social media have gional groups. I invite you to take advantage of always remain an become vital tools for our alumni to connect with these online offerings, as well as the alumni chap- integral part of the each other and stay informed about current de- ters that meet in your area. If there is not a Simon Simon network. velopments at the School. Digital networks, like alumni chapter near you, please contact our Ad- those available on LinkedIn and Goalee, an in- vancement office for assistance in creating one. novative search engine developed by two recent Moreover, if you would like to become an agent for Simon alums, help organize and promote every- your graduating class and help strengthen the ties thing from social engagements to professional op- within your cohort, please let us know. s portunities and idea sharing. Meliora! To date, Goalee has over 5,000 Simon students and alumni in its network that blends the benefits of an online networking site like LinkedIn with online matchmaking sites like eHarmony and Match.com. It also helps us to offer an easy-to-use Job TipLine. If you have a job lead, simply visit www.simon. careertipline.com/tips/new and fill out the short Mark Zupan form. Even if you think there may be opportuni- ties, but aren’t entirely sure, we’d be interested in learning more. Once you submit a lead, students

2 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business For more information on The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the University of Rochester, visit: campaign.rochester.edu

Your support is getting us closer to our goal. MELIORA CHALLENGE IMPACTS BUILDING ON CAMPUS

The Meliora Challenge, the first comprehen- ENTREPRENEURSHIP Finance), and developed an undergraduate sive capital campaign in the University’s his- The strengthening of our Entrepreneurship business major. tory, is now more than halfway home, and program was recently apparent in two sig- we are proud to report the Simon School of nificant milestones. TECHNOLOGY, COMMUNITY, Business is on track for successful comple- The arrival on campus of our first full AND FACILITIES tion. This is the result of the collective efforts faculty member in entrepreneurship, Ron By adding a media room, Bloomberg termi- of numerous volunteers around the globe, Goettler, from the Booth School of Business nal, and enhanced study room and class- the participation of our faculty and students, at the University of Chicago, and the launch room technology, we are ensuring that and the hard work of our dedicated staff. of a student-managed venture capital fund. Simon students learn on industry standard We have surpassed $61 million raised Goettler was installed as the inaugural James and state-of-the-art equipment now and into against our goal of $85 million, an ambi- N. Doyle Sr. Professor of Entrepreneurship, the future. Our classroom, study, meeting, tious goal set by Simon School leadership to elevate our competitive position. Over 4,220 donors, primarily Simon alumni, have con- tributed to this effort. Our primary objectives continue to be: supporting faculty and students; innovat- ing programmatic offerings in areas such as Entrepreneurship and Pricing; strengthening our facilities; and enhancing technology and fostering our sense of community.

FACULTY THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Our School was built on leading scholars doing cutting-edge research and teach- ing. We have vastly enhanced our ability to attract, retain, and support such scholars now and into the future by raising over $17 million to support endowed professorships, research, and junior faculty. We have more than doubled the number of endowed chairs at the Simon School, adding 10 such posi- adding to our scholarship and teaching in and office space in New York City will fur- tions thus far in the Campaign. this vital field. ther support the growth of the Simon pro- The Simon School VC Fund began with gram located there and increase our visibility OUTSTANDING STUDENTS a $1 million commitment from Dan Lazarek in the world’s media and finance capital. The student experience improves through ’91S (MBA), and has made its first two Your support matters and has benefit- gifts to all areas of the Simon School, and our investments, delivering a powerful experien- ted our School in many ways. Please con- ability to attract talented individuals from tial learning opportunity with the potential sider joining the effort by volunteering, around the country and globe has been greatly for financial return to the School. mentoring, or supporting an area that you enhanced by the increase in scholarship, fel- feel passionate about. Soon we will have lowship, and internship support. Over $20 PROGRAMMATIC INNOVATION the opportunity to celebrate a remarkable million has been raised over the course of the Our programs and coursework continue achievement, elevating our brand, profile, Campaign, primarily in the forms of current to evolve to meet the needs of industry and position as a leader in management use and endowed scholarships. This dramatic and students. We have launched concen- education and research. For more informa- increase allows us to compete for high-per- trations in Business Analytics and Pricing, tion on what you can do, please contact the forming students who have scholarship offers added a second New York City-based part- Simon School Advancement office at (585) from other top schools. time MS program in Management (joining 275-7563 or [email protected].

JOHN SMILLIE Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 3 URG_SimNetwork8.5x10.75_Layout 1 7/23/13 10:59 AM Page 1

YOUR GLOBAL NETWORK

“Simon’s “Simon’s ability international to compete with focus translated into the top business schools invaluable experiences in the world is driven largely and meaningful relationships” by our support as alumni” — Holger T. Wessling ‘94S (MBA) — Pramit Jhaveri ‘87S (MBA) General Manager Chief Executive Officer DZ Bank AG, United Kingdom Citibank India

Support from our 12,000 alumni worldwide is vital to making Simon “ever better.” Please make your gift today by visiting rochester.edu/annualfunds/global.

All gifts count toward The Meliora Challenge, a University-wide fundraising Campaign that was launched in October 2011 and runs through June 30, 2016. A five-year annual fund pledge of $1,500 or more each year may qualify you for the George Eastman Circle, the University’s leadership giving society. To learn more, please visit GeorgeEastmanCircle.com

Annual Giving Programs, University of Rochester 800.598.1330 [email protected] New Faculty

Simon Welcomes New Faculty SIMON BUSINESS Three distinguished scholars have joined Simon’s world-class faculty Vol. 27, No. 2/Fall 2013 as Assistant Professors of Business Administration. DEAN Mark Zupan Garrett Johnson joins the Simon Marketing faculty Dean and Professor of Economics and Public Policy after completing his doctoral studies in Eco- FACULTY AND RESEARCH Rajiv M. Dewan ’84S (MS), ’87S (PhD) nomics at Northwestern University. Johnson’s Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research; research examines the economics of the Inter- Professor of Computers and Information Systems net; his dissertation, which focuses on the online ENGAGEMENT AND PLANNING Delores Conway display advertising industry, examines the impact Senior Associate Dean for Engagement and Planning; of privacy policy restricting user tracking on the Professor of Statistics and Real Estate Economics market for online display advertising. His work PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT suggests that a tracking ban would substantially decrease the profits Ronald W. Hansen Senior Associate Dean for Program Development; William H. Meckling of online advertisers and publishers in online ad auctions. His dis- Professor of Business Administration; Director of the Bradley Policy sertation also measured display ad effectiveness using large-scale field Research Center experiments at Yahoo!. Johnson will be teaching courses on market- EDITOR James A. Ver Steeg ing channels and Internet marketing. He holds a BA in Economics CONTRIBUTING WRITERS from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Hilary Appelman, Andrea Holland, Charla Stevens Kucko, Sally Parker, Jim Stinson, Joy Underhill, and Janice Willett ’78S Jaewoo Kim received his doctoral degree from the (MBA) University of Iowa. In his dissertation, “Asym- ART DIRECTOR Geri McCormick metric Timely Loss Recognition, Private Debt GRAPHIC DESIGN Markets, and Underinvestment,” Kim studied Steve Boerner Typography & Design Inc. the collapse of the junk bond market and finds PRODUCTION MANAGER the firms that were timelier in loss recognition Kimberly Cardone

had better access to debt markets. He is cur- COPY EDITOR rently researching merger-related transitory Ceil Goldman growth, CEO career concerns, and counterparty responses to CEO PHOTOGRAPHY overconfidence. Kim earned an MBA from Korea Advanced Institute Deron Berkhof, Kurt Brownell, Annette Dragon, J. Adam Fenster, Jonathan Gayman, David S. Holloway, Brian Mahany, Matthew of Science and Technology (KAIST) and a BA in Economics from McKee, Michael Piazza, John Smillie, Ria Tafani, Shannon Korea University. Taggart, Michael Temchine, Brett Ziegler COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Erin Smith earned her doctorate in Finance from JPMorgan Chase & Co. the Stern School of Business in 2013. In her dis- SIMON ALUMNI NEWS/CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kimberly Cardone, Kate Gruschow ’11S (MS), Kelly Rains sertation, “Do Shareholders Want Less Gov- ernance?” Smith uses over-voting as a novel instrumental variable that increases the likeli- hood of passing anti-takeover provisions, finding that such provisions increase shareholder value. She has been awarded the Best Finance PhD Dis- sertation in Honor of Stuart Greenbaum by Washington University in St. Louis and the Edwin Elton Prize for Best Job Market Paper by New York University, Stern School of Business. Smith will be visiting the Securities and Exchange Commission for most of this academic Simon Business, Vol. 27, No. 2, ISSN 1077-5323 year and will join the Simon faculty full time in fall 2014. She earned a Published twice a year by the University of Rochester, William E. Simon School of Business Administration, 2-341 Carol G. Simon Hall, Box 270100, BA in Engineering and Economics from Dartmouth College. Rochester, New York 14627-0100. Office of Marketing and Communications: (585) 275-3736 (phone), “Each of these distinguished scholars brings a unique perspective (585) 275-9331 (fax), [email protected] and a wealth of talent in their individual fields to the Simon School’s Postmaster: Send address changes to the William E. Simon School Rajiv M. Dewan of Business Administration, 2-341 Carol G. Simon Hall, Box 270100, leading faculty,” says ’84S (MS), ’87S (PhD) Senior As- University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627-0100. sociate Dean for Faculty and Research. “These outstanding individu- © 2013 William E. Simon School of Business Administration, als are joining a faculty globally renowned for being groundbreaking University of Rochester researchers and scholars in management education.” s SMC 11-12-36

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 5 Upfront

Simon Receives $1.5M Commitment Simon Students for Endowed Finance Professorship Win at Mark Ain Jay S. Benet ’76S (MBA) and Jeanne P. services industry, and his success is a tes- Benet have made a $1.5 million gift com- tament to the value of a Simon School ed- Competition mitment in support of The Meliora Chal- ucation,” says Dean Mark Zupan. “Thanks Aspiring student entrepreneurs pre- lenge: The Campaign for the University of to his and Jeanne’s generosity, we will be sented their business models at the sev- Rochester. Their gift will establish the Jay able to attract a leading financial scholar enth annual Mark Ain Business Model S. and Jeanne P. Benet Professorship of to join our premier finance faculty to Competition on May 15, 2013. Repre- Finance at the Simon School. Jay Benet is educate future leaders in the field.” sentatives from Simon were among the Vice Chairman and CFO of The Travel- “This gift of a finance professorship top teams competing for the $10,000 ers Companies Inc., where he oversees for the Simon School is in recognition prize. First place went to a team of Uni- financial operations for the insurance of the outstanding education I received versity of Rochester students who cre- industry giant. there. What I learned from my profes- ated a non-invasive method for asthma “We are deeply grateful to Jay and sors enabled me to successfully compete management. The team included Simon Jeanne Benet for this investment in fi- in business,” said Benet. “It also reflects students Prinson Dsouza ’13 (MS), Ran nance education at the Simon School,” my appreciation for Mark Zupan’s out- Gao ’13 (MS), Sharon Samjitsingh ’13 said University President Joel Seligman. standing leadership as Dean of the Simon (MS), and ChenChen Qu ’13 (MS). “We are proud to be considered a global School. I consider myself extremely for- Congratulations go to Martin Bir- leader in finance education, and this gift tunate to be able to support the School mingham ’13S (MBA), Megan DeWitt ’13 will help us to build on that momentum.” with this professorship.” s (MS), Andrew Durney ’16 (PhD), William A longtime supporter of See page 19 for more on Jay Benet Finnie ’13 (MS), Anthony Froix, MD, ’13S the Simon School, Benet is and his work at Travelers. (MBA), Alicia Henn ’13S (MBA), Gyeon- a member of the National ghun Lee ’13S (MS), Hyieop Lim ’13S Council and Executive (MS), Kwaku Owusu ’14S (MBA), Nancy Advisory Committee and Sutton ’13S (MBA), Michael Van Meter, a charter member of the PhD, ’13S (MBA), and Marcos Rodriguez George Eastman Circle. ’13S (MBA) for being among the top “Jay Benet is teams. a leader in The Mark Ain Competition the financial is made possible by support from Simon alumnus Mark S. Ain ’67S (MBA), founder Seen here and chairman of Kronos with their son Incorporated. The 2013 Josh, Jay and judges include Mark Ain, Jeanne Benet Edward J. Ackley ’53, ’64S recently estab- (MS), Debora LaBudde lished a Simon ’92, ’93S (MBA), and professorship in Christopher Schiavo ’90S Finance. (MBA). s

Simon Alumnus Meliora Weekend at the White House Alumni will gather on the River Campus October Will Reynolds ’10S (MBA), Iraq War 10–13. Headliners include former US Secretary veteran, is pictured directly behind the of Defense Robert Gates; The Wall Street Journal President in this photo posted on the columnist Peggy Noonan; and comedian Demetri First Lady’s Twitter. On April 30, First Martin. Simon will recognize Kevin P. Collins ’82S Lady Michelle Obama tweeted “Our (MBA), Harvey Jacobsen ’82S (MBA), Dan Lazarek men and women in uniform and their ’91S (MBA), and Kate Washington ’04S (MBA) during families are standing up for us.” the Alumni Dinner on October 12. For details visit: https://www.rochester.edu/melioraweekend.

6 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business RIA TAFANI (BENET) Simon School Venture Capital Fund Makes First Two Investments The student-run Simon School Venture making early-stage venture capital in- 2014, and Sameer Kaul, MBA Candidate Capital (VC) Fund has made its first two vestments with an emphasis on provid- Class of 2014. investments. The first investment is in ing support for student-initiated startup Simon students working on the fund StormBlok Systems Inc., a Palmyra, New ventures. The fund, made possible by gain experience in all aspects of venture York-based company that manufactures philanthropic support from Simon alumni capital and benefit from the experience a StormBlok device to shield commercial entrepreneurs, is overseen by a board of and direction of the accomplished mem- signs, ATMs, fuel pumps, and residen- directors led by Chairman Christopher bers on their board of directors. The fund, tial windows from hurricane and other Schiavo ’90S (MBA), CFO of Battery Ven- which is supported by the University of weather damage. The second investment tures, a global venture capital firm. Join- Rochester Center for Entrepreneurship is in Forsake, a Boston-based startup with strong Rochester roots. Forsake is a foot- wear company specializing in all-weather boots and sneakers that targets a younger demographic (15-35) found predomi- nantly within the outdoor and action- sport communities. Parr Wiegel, StormBlok’s CEO and President, says, “We are very excited about the Simon School Venture Capi- tal Fund’s investment. It will help us to continue moving the StormBlok concept forward.” The fund provides a hands-on educa- tional opportunity for aspiring Simon student entrepreneurs and venture capi- talists. At launch last May, the VC Fund Daniel Lazarek (far right) joins members of the student-run Venture Capital Fund on their tour of had commitments exceeding $1 million. the New York Stock Exchange organized by Columb Lytle ’02S (MBA) of Meridian Equity Partners. “We are pleased that our students have made their first major investments,” says ing him on the board is Mark S. Ain ’67S and the Simon Entrepreneurs Associa- Dean Mark Zupan. “Simon’s commit- (MBA), Founder and Executive Chairman tion, is the result of two years of work by ment to providing rigorous and meaning- of Kronos Incorporated; Daniel G. Lazarek Simon School faculty, students, and part- ful experiential learning opportunities ’91S (MBA), CFO and Co-Owner, Access ners at the University’s Office of Counsel complements Simon’s array of entrepre- Insurance Holdings Inc.; Simon School and Office of Technology Transfer and neurship educational options, including faculty Ron Goettler, Dennis Kessler, and Commercialization. s the School’s student startup incubator at David Olivieri; Gail Norris, University Vice For more information about the Simon High Tech Rochester and the annual Mark President and General Counsel; Matthew School VC Fund, visit www.ssvcf.com or Ain Business Model Competition.” Tipple ’12S (MBA); and Simon students contact CEO Sameer Kaul via e-mail at Students involved in the fund are Nicole Camarre, MBA Candidate Class of [email protected].

Professor’s Research Discussed Citelighter Wins National Award at Several Research Meetings Citelighter, an academic research platform, recently Associate Professor Paulo Albuquerque was invited to received two national awards at the Software and present his paper, “A Continuous-Time Model of Product Information Industry Association (SIIA) conference. Usage: Measuring the Effect of Product Design and Started by Saad Alam ’08S (MBA) and Lee Jokl ’08S Rewards in Online Games,” at the Marketing Research (MBA), Citelighter won first place for the Educators Camp at Ohio State University and at INSEAD in Paris Choice Award and second place for the Most in April. The paper will also be part of the Marketing Innovative. This brings Citelighter’s award total Research Camp at Tilburg University, the Netherlands to five this year. The SIIA is one of the largest in December 2013. trade associations in the technology industry.

JOHN SMILLIE (ALBUQUERQUE) Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 7 Upfront

Commencement 2013: A Legacy and a Future The Simon School held its academic appointments at the Univer- Commencement ceremony on Sunday, sity, Associate Professor in the School of June 9, 2013, in Kodak Hall at Eastman Nursing and Clinical Associate Professor Theatre. University President Joel of Public Health Sciences in the School of Seligman presided. Medicine and Dentistry. Parrinello pre- Lawrence Kudlow ’69 delivered the viously served as Practitioner/Teacher Commencement address and received an in surgical services at Rush Presbyte- Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Kud- rian Medical Center in Chicago. “It is my low is host of CNBC’s The Kudlow Report. honor and privilege to receive the Kearns He also hosts the nationally syndicated Medal,” she said. radio program The Larry Kudlow Show, Douglas B. Petno ’89S (MBA) received and was formerly Chief Economist and the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns Petno is CEO of Commercial Banking & Company. A nationally syndicated col- for JPMorgan Chase & Co. As head of umnist and published author, Kudlow is Commercial Banking, one of JPMorgan a Contributing Editor of National Review Larry Kudlow, host of The Kudlow Report and Chase’s four lines of business, he over- magazine and a columnist and Econom- contributing editor of National Review delivers sees a significant portion of the company’s ics Editor for National Review online. In the 2013 Commencement address. assets with a presence in more than 125 his Commencement address, Kudlow told locations across 29 states, Washington, the graduates they should be very proud DC, and 13 major international cities. The of having William E. Simon’s name on Commercial Banking unit serves more their degree, calling Mr. Simon a bril- than 23,000 clients nationally, including liant champion of free markets. “Work corporations, municipalities, financial in- like you’ve never worked before, and after stitutions, and not-for-profit entities with that, work even harder,” he said. “The dis- annual revenue ranging from $20 million cipline, morality, and goodness of work to $2 billion, and more than 36,000 real will make you free. Start today and don’t estate investors and owners. let up, because the country needs you The Simon SchoolClass of 2013 in- more than it has needed smart graduates cluded 222 graduates of the full-time and in decades.” part-time MBA programs; 42 graduates of Kathleen M. Parrinello ’75N, ’83N (MS), the Executive MBA program; 270 gradu- ’90W (PhD) was presented with the Da- ates who received MS degrees; and nine vid T. Kearns Medal of Distinction, which graduates were recognized for earning the recognizes “significant achievements in PhD in Business Administration. Across business, public service, and education.” all programs, 42 countries were repre- Parrinello is Executive Vice President and sented; in addition, the Simon School’s Chief Operating Officer at the University Executive MBA Program in Bern, Swit- of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), zerland, graduated 31 students. s Strong Memorial Hospital. She holds two Read more about Doug Petno on page 28.

Harley-Davidson CEO Simon and Coyne PR Visits Simon Win PRSA Big Apple Award Keith Wandell (with Dean Mark Zupan), The Simon School and Coyne PR, the President and CEO of Harley-Davidson, School’s national PR agency, won a PRSA visited the Simon School on April 2, where he New York City Chapter Big Apple Award in presented his lecture, “Leadership: It Takes May 2013. Simon and Coyne earned top a Team” as part of the Kalmbach Lecture honors in the Marketing/Business-to- Series. Wandell has been with Harley- Business category for raising the visibility of Davidson since 2009. He is the first CEO the School with the national media and for recruited outside the company in 30 years. overall PR excellence.

8 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business ANNETTE DRAGON (KUDLOW) College Town Breaks Ground University President Joel Seligman joined and cohesive University-neighborhood with neighbors from the Mt. Hope area, community. government and University leaders, and “This is a historic day for the City of project partners to celebrate the ground- Rochester,” said President Seligman. “Col- breaking of College Town, a 2012 Finger lege Town is an excellent model of how Lakes Regional Economic Development public-private partnerships should work. Council Priority Project to provide desti- We have enjoyed and been grateful for the nation dining, shopping, and services in a incredible support we have received at ev- single City of Rochester setting. ery level of government, from stakehold- Robert Novy-Marx sheds light on the finan- College Town is a comprehensive ers throughout the University community, cial crisis facing many American cities. plan to redevelop 14 acres of University- and, pivotally, from our neighbors.” owned property with 500,000 square feet The commencement of College Town’s Novy-Marx of retail and dining space, hotel and con- construction is the culmination of sig- ference facilities, parking, and housing nificant local, state, and federal support, on Government for the Mt. Hope and University commu- and years of planning and coordination nities and area visitors. The $100 million among officials from the University, the Pensions project, at the intersection of Mt. Hope City of Rochester, and local organiza- Professor Robert Novy-Marx was cited and Elmwood avenues, has been a vision tions, including the Mt. Hope Avenue in a July 24, 2013 Wall Street Journal for local community partners since 2008. Task Force, the Mt. Hope Business As- article about Detroit’s bankruptcy and It promises to provide economic benefits sociation, the Southeast Area Coalition, unfunded pension and health care li- to the region, while building a welcoming and Mt. Hope Cemetery. s abilities. The story also appeared inU.S. News & World Report, National Review Online, and other outlets. In a 2009 research paper with Joshua Rauh, “Public Pension Promises: How Big Are They and What Are They Worth?” the co-authors estimated state and municipal pension liabilities were between $3.2 and $4.4 trillion while states and municipalities only saved an estimated $1.9 trillion. As a result, many cities could face the same financial crisis as Detroit over the next decade. Upon completion, He has also been quoted in the De- College Town will troit Free Press and Detroit News. “If the feature a Hilton hotel and federal government gets involved in conference center, a grocery insuring and regulating state and city market, a Barnes and Noble book- pensions . . . that’s a problem for a lot of store, office space, and other retailers. people,” he said. s

Simon Takes Second Place in Aquavation, Rochester Noted International Case Competition for Innovation and High Tech Simon students took second place at the IGC Aquavation, the company that allows people HEC Case Competition in Montreal. Schools to create water bottles tied to charitable from around the world took part in the donations, started by Sarah Plasky-Sachdev competition, where each team had 48 hours to ’99S (MBA), was cited for innovation in present solutions. Pictured left to right: Davide Techie.com’s article, “10 Most Unexpected Girlando ’13S (MBA), Lu Zhang ’13S (MS), Cities for High Tech.” Rochester was also Professor David Tilson, Wen Gao ’13S (MS), and mentioned for being among the cities Filip Vurdelja ’13S (MS). associated with innovation and startups.

JOHN SMILLIE (NOVY-MARX); STEVE BOERNER (COLLEGE TOWN) Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 9

Simon in the News

“I don’t think that regulators know “The standard HECM loans have proven enough to break these firms apart. to have an unusual I would rather see us pursue higher number of defaults. capital requirements.” By taking so much —Charles Plosser, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and former Simon School Dean, in a May 9, 2013, WSJ.com article, cash up front, “Plosser: Higher Capital Levels Can Address Too-Big-To-Fail Bank Risk.” homeowners have less money in later “Even though most people will have years to keep up forgotten it by then, it is going to be an with property taxes issue in terms of how you handle a crisis.” and other housing —Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media, in a May 10, 2013, NewsMax.com expenses they have story, “Forbes: Benghazi ‘Going to Be an Issue’ for Clinton in 2016.” Forbes was a featured speaker at the Simon New York City Conference on May 9, 2013. to pay even with a reverse mortgage.” “It’s like a Kabuki dance that politicians make —Delores Conway, Senior Associate Dean for External Engagement and Planning over these budget issues. People are getting and Professor of Statistics and Real Estate tired of it, and that’s why they don’t have Economics, in an April 14, 2013, CNBC.com story, “Landing a Reverse Mortgage Just much interest in it.” Got Tougher.” —Mark Zupan, Dean of the Simon School, in a March 1, 2013, CNBC.com story, “Wall Street and Main Street Give Sequester a Big Yawn.” The story also ran on NBCNews.com. “He [aviation pioneer Jack Northrop, founder “While the market’s volatility undoubtedly will of Northrop Corp.] was fluctuate over the shorter term, there is no awarded 30 patents evidence to support the widely held belief that and was unusual among great inventors in being the stock market is more volatile today than at generous with giving other points in U.S. history.” credit to those who —G. William Schwert, Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Finance and Statistics, helped him. Northrop was in a July 12 MarketWatch article, “How to Battle Volatility” (story also appeared in WSJ.com). a very effective organizer “If Detroit is able to impair these pension plans from of engineering project [the] workers’ point of view, despite the fact that there’s teams, very focused, constitutional language preventing this, it basically is hard-driving and not going to let workers everywhere know that they’re only easily satisfied.” protected up to the assets that are set aside.” —George Cook, Executive Professor of Marketing, in a May 31, 2013, Investor’s —Robert Novy-Marx, Assistant Professor of Finance, in a July 26, 2013, U.S. News & World Report Business Daily article, “Jack Northrop’s article, “Detroit Bankruptcy Potential Precedent-Setter on Pensions.” Northrop Aircraft Soared to the Top.”

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 11 Brand Integrity Founder and CEO Gregg Lederman ’99S (MBA) (center) is flanked by the company’s President and fellow Simon alum Bryan Bond ’96S (MBA) (left) and Partner, Senior Vice President Technology Doug Bennett ’06S (MBA) (right).

12 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business JOHN SMILLIE QUANTIFYING CULTURE

Through their innovative software program and cross-functional approach to measuring employee engagement, Brand Integrity is bringing change to the modern workplace. By Sally Parker

Once upon a time in the story of American business, the human re- sources department was the warm and fuzzy part of a company—neces- sary for marshaling and rallying the troops, but not always essential to the bottom line. These days, HR is shedding its humble image and stepping to the fore- front in a new breed of business. It’s one player in a fresh push to harness the power of all of a company’s functions—from HR to marketing—with a single system that not only boosts the bottom line, but also enriches the lives of its workers. Three Simon School alumni are leading this movement. Their Rochester-based company, Brand Integrity, was one of the first to help companies align objectives with employee satisfaction. “Every day I come to work I know that, with our software, we have the ability to dramatically improve people’s lives—and make companies more profitable,” says Founder and CEO Gregg Lederman ’99S (MBA). Using Potential Point 5.0, Brand Integrity’s cloud-based software, a company lays out its brand (mission, objectives, reason for being), aligns and engages employees (so they can “live the brand,” Lederman says), and creates greater accountability and recognition that in the end improves customer service. Companies license the patent- pending product for an annual license fee.

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 13 Potential Point focuses on three areas: With simple, clickable get you the answer. And if you need to know where a product is, online questionnaires, it measures the motivation and commit- often they walk you right to it,” Lederman says. ment of staff; offers customers a chance to weigh in on their Brand Integrity was mainly a consulting company for the interactions with the firm; and provides social media tools that first few years. Then, in early 2006, Lederman andFred Beer ’95 managers and employees can use to recognize and share one an- started planning a software product to help companies track em- other’s efforts toward achieving company objectives. ployee engagement. They needed someone to build a financial The software streamlines employee recognition, making it not model for the software business. At that time,Doug Bennett ’06S only easier to provide but more visible and meaningful as well. It (MBA) was studying at Simon and had success building finan- creates conversations between employees and managers, among cial models for several startup businesses on the side. Eager to employees themselves, and between employees and customers. grow something from the ground up, he called Lederman, who Potential Point is the first software on the market to help firms is a Lecturer in Marketing at Simon. The phone call to introduce quantify their culture. himself turned into a 7:00 a.m. office meeting and then an op- “Most people recognize the importance of culture, but it’s portunity. The model he built showed that a software business— always been this amorphous thing nobody can measure,” says which later folded into Brand Integrity—would be a smart move, Bryan Bond ’96S (MBA), who joined Brand Integrity as President and Bennett joined the staff and invested in the business. (Beer earlier this year. “When you generate metrics that quantify cul- has moved on to other things, but remains active on the Brand ture . . . you really have a powerful tool to improve the business Integrity board.) in a variety of ways.” Those were heady, creative days, Bennett recalls. Only a few people worked in the firm’s converted Victorian on Park Av- he importance of employee engagement cannot be enue, and Lederman traveled a lot to consulting engagements. overstated, Lederman says. Polls by Gallup and many At first, Bennett was alone most of the time, managing the first others agree: Roughly 70 percent of American work- few software clients and serving as liaison between the client and ers are not engaged in their jobs. Lederman likens the developer. He had done similar work as a business analyst in a statistics to a 10-person crew in a boat race: three crew suburban Philadelphia trading office. Tmembers are working as hard as they can, four are distracted or “At the end of the day it really was about making the world a just relaxing, and three are actively working to sink the boat. better place. It was great to feel like every hour, every minute I “It’s unacceptable that two thirds of employees aren’t en- put into this business we get payback. It was such a cool feeling gaged,” Lederman says. “There’s a crisis that’s been going on for coming out of school applying finance and operations—and mar- years. It got really bad during the Great Recession. keting,” he says. “That’s the reality of engagement. When your employees are “I think what motivates me the most is building something— engaged, they speak positively of the company and they’ll stay working on a project and seeing it used and enjoyed by employ- and be productive,” he says. ees. I think that’s what all entrepreneurs want: seeing all of your Lederman, who grew up in Rochester, founded Brand In- hard work come to life,” says Bennett, a Senior Vice President tegrity in 2002. After studying business at Ithaca College, he who now leads Brand Integrity’s technology side. worked in Texas and California before returning to buy Buck- Lederman says Bennett is “the big, big reason why our tech- mans Dairy in Greece. He and partner Tim Vottis pared down nology is as great as it is.” the product offerings, boosted employee morale, and improved customer service before selling the company. hen Bennett joined the firm in 2006, consult- Lederman then used his share of the proceeds to study at ing was the biggest piece of the pie. That began to Simon. Fascinated with marketing and company branding, he change in 2010—a year Lederman recalls with a went to work for an advertising agency after he graduated, and wince. By the fall, the recession was eating into the quickly learned a lesson: It wasn’t enough for a firm to say it consulting market; Lederman says it was a wakeup could deliver on promises; change had to happen within first. Wtime during which staff “kept plowing through.” He wanted to start a business that would help other companies Consulting represented 75 percent of the business at the walk the walk and talk the talk behind their brand and launched time; software was bringing in 25 percent. The firm made a Brand Integrity in April 2002. decisive and pivotal switch, pouring more resources into Poten- One of his first clients was Wegmans Food Markets, consis- tial Point and focusing less on consulting. Today the software tently a top performer on national Best Places to Work lists. makes up 80 percent of the company and consulting represents “People at Wegmans know the answer or they know how to 20 percent.

14 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business Roughly half of Lederman’s time is now spent on the speaking award recognizes a firm that has linked employee learning to the circuit. He has 50 to 85 engagements a year, and this year he is business’s strategic growth or success. promoting his new book, Engaged! Outbehave Your Competition Competing products focus on selling rewards; Potential Point to Create Customers for Life. The book details the 22 behaviors focuses on recognition and appreciation and garners 80 to 95 Lederman considers essential to living the brand. percent employee participation—10 to 20 times the participation Much of the company’s success will hinge on telling the story rate of other models, Lederman says. of America’s crisis of disengagement. Besides promoting the “You don’t need rewards. Just create a social environment book and Potential Point through social media, Brand Integ- that fuels the recognition people crave,” he says. “You create this rity is giving away access to a portion of the software, called the environment of constant sharing of best practices. It sustains the Engaged Index, to build a database of proof consisting of four environment in which people can become more motivated.” simple questions. An employee can go to the website, answer the In its own office, Brand Integrity is purposeful and busy—but questions, and click on his or her employer in a dropdown menu. easygoing, almost laid back. Bennett, Lederman, and Bond hint Once coworkers also respond to the questionnaire, a picture will that the sportscoats they are wearing are not everyday attire. start to emerge—one that shows how engaged the employees of They ping each other with good-natured teasing and sing each that company really are. Brand Integrity can use the data to show other’s praises. regional and national trends—and build its own database of pros- Interns beg to come back, Bennett says. pects in the process. “The culture here is something really special. We have a group “The intent there is to raise awareness of the employee en- of A players who really want to see the company succeed—but gagement crisis,” Bond says. “It will be a stand-alone, and we’re it’s a fun group of people, too,” he says. “It’s not just the owners hoping it will go viral.” living in Lala Land. I truly believe our employees love working here as well.” s the first-ever employee recognition system to quan- Bond joined the company last year after a conversation with tify engagement, Potential Point has to educate pos- Patrick Ahern, Brand Integrity’s Senior Vice President for Busi- sible clients first. Lederman ranks it among the firm’s ness Development. Bond helps with strategy, direction, and biggest challenges. The software’s cross-functional managing the day to day, Lederman says. nature also makes it harder to sell. The notion of living “I just met Bryan last fall. There are some people you meet Athe brand is “owned by no one but managed by everyone,” Bond and you just know,” he says. “I didn’t know he was a Simon alum. says. Hence, there are various buyers within a company—includ- Patrick met him at a Forty Under 40 cocktail reception. Within ing marketing, which represents the brand externally, and HR, 90 days he had accepted an offer.” which is typically responsible for internal employee engage- Bond, who had just sold his share in Bond Financial Network ment—that have to agree on a purchase. to his brother, had other offers on the table at the time. Those who sign on are enthusiastic. Since the software was “This one really struck me because I am very passionate about the launched in 2006, not one of the more than 100 for-profit em- impact of culture on an organization and truly believe it is a differen- ployers who use the software has voluntarily shut it off, Leder- tiator. It’s fun. It’s a puzzle I enjoy playing with,” he says. “I wanted man says. Among clients are the University of Rochester Medical entrepreneurial skin in the game, but with enough of an established Center, AAA of Western & Central New York, Chobani Inc., base and a strong leadership team that I could help scale it.” Constellation Brands, the Bonadio Group, Excellus BlueCross Lederman, Bennett, and Bond are all active Simon alumni. BlueShield, Five Star Bank, and Wegmans. Bennett and Bond are members of the George Eastman Circle At Five Star, the software helped managers assess their and Simon Alumni Council. Lederman continues to lecture at branches. They discovered that offices with the highest loan pro- the Simon School, while Bennett meets with marketing students duction figures also had the highest levels of employee engage- and does alumni interviewing. Bennett says Simon’s small size ment, Bond says. allowed for more interaction with professors; he also appreci- Genesee Regional Bank credited the Brand Integrity software ated the School’s zealous grounding in economics. As for Bond, for helping it place seventh in the small/medium employers he says James Brickley’s class on organizational development, category in this year’s Best Companies to Work for in New York one of his favorites, foreshadowed his current work. competition. “I really think this idea of managing human capital is a critical Another client, SavOn LLC in Oneida, thanked Brand Integ- topic for the next decade,” Bond says. “Those who can figure out rity when it won the 2013 American Society for Training and how to engage employees—manage their experience and the ex- Development CNY Best Award for For-Profit Organizations. The perience they in turn deliver to the customer—will win.” s

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 15 Business Continuity in a CRISIS

The images are seared into memory. A dark New York City sky- When disaster strikes, having line, a submerged roller coaster and demolished boardwalk on a plan is critical for companies the Jersey shore, a lone statue of the Virgin Mary standing amid the rubble in the Breezy Point section of Queens, a survivor in to ensure business continuity Staten Island kayaking on a river where the street used to be. and minimize loss. Even the Hurricane Sandy, the superstorm that ravaged the mid- Alantic region last October, was the second costliest hurricane most comprehensive plans can’t in US history. Knocking out power to more than seven mil- anticipate the unexpected, but lion people and damaging millions of homes and businesses, the storm shattered records for wave height and storm surge it’s how you react in a crisis that at New York City’s Battery Park. It also did significant dam- counts. By Charla Stevens Kucko age in Sandy Hook, New Jersey—a thin peninsula that juts into

16 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business A firefighter surveys the smoldering ruins of the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens after a fire swept through the oceanfront community during Business Continuity in a CRISIS superstorm Sandy.

the lower New York harbor and points toward nearby New York the business and that is not acceptable when we are support- City. Sandy’s impact is still being felt along the Atlantic Coast as ing a global client base. We have to ensure that we have resil- communities and businesses continue to adjust to a new normal. iency and that we can be relied upon to service our clients with When the hurricane hit, Citigroup was prepared, says Sanjay minimal to no impact, and meet our daily deliverables as close Vatsa ’89S (MBA), Managing Director for Citi’s global opera- to business as usual one can be.” In the case of Hurricane Sandy, tions. Vatsa is part of a company-wide business continuity group Citi was recognized by Business Continuity Institute (BCI) for of senior managers at the corporate and operations levels that “Most Effective Recovery of the Year” for its handling of the regularly meets, conducts drills, and reviews the plan in the crisis. “When the power went out at our headquarters in New event of a crisis. “Whenever you run any kind of business, you York City, our business continuity plan kicked in, and a lot of the have to understand your contingency plan in case the busi- work shifted to our other processing centers globally, includ- ness is affected in any way,” Vatsa says. “With Hurricane Sandy, ing here in the United States, to support the processes that were power shut down, we knew that there would be disruptions in impacted in the affected area,” Vatsa explains. People worked

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 17 from home, and there were multiple conference calls daily to people who are supposed to be involved in the process.” share information on the current situation so that the plan could Vatsa has been through his share of crises. In addition to Hur- be dynamically adjusted based on the situation. Vatsa notes that ricane Sandy, he was a senior-level executive at Merrill Lynch in communication, transparency, and up-to-date information are New York City on 9/11. When a crisis hits, he says it’s all about key during a crisis. “The time to plan for a crisis is not when it’s the execution of the plan. “Once it happens, you have to have a happening; that’s execution time,” he says. “You have to ensure very solid execution of the plan, and there will always be things that you have a good plan and then test it on a regular basis to in the plan you may not have envisioned, so you should be ready ensure that you’re still up to speed so that when the time comes to make a decision right on the spot, to think, ‘No, we’re go- there are minimal issues, and the plan executes as a well-oiled ing to do X versus Y.’” On 9/11, Vatsa was part of the team that machine and is relentlessly followed and executed.” Citi tests its quickly created a trading floor in Princeton, New Jersey, because plan frequently and at multiple times of the Merrill’s offices in New York City were out year, depending on process changes and Citigroup’s Sanjay Vatsa explains you of commission. “We were in a very difficult the criticality of the process. have to understand your company’s situation and things were happening that “Everyone thinks it will never happen to crisis contingency plan to help prepare we didn’t expect,” he recalls. “That wasn’t me or my firm and believes that someone for unexpected events that could affect what we envisioned, but we knew what we else has to worry about it. The discipline, business and operations. would do in case it did happen, so we put urgency, and focus that one has to have in things in motion, dedicated a team, we got place is as if the crisis is going to happen and it will impact you, a person involved who knew how to set up trading desks, and so you need to be prepared and ready for execution at a mo- empowered that person and our team. We were in full execution ment’s notice,” Vatsa says. So what do you do before the crisis mode—in collaboration, no questions asked.” hits? “It’s all about awareness, focus, and knowing the execution Vatsa says Simon prepared him well for handling major crises plan,” he explains. “You need to have the awareness that disrup- by giving him the analytical tools to understand both the small tive situations may happen, so your focus is to ensure that a plan and the big pictures. “Being able to align the two is very critical,” is in place, is viable, is tested, and is communicated to all of the he says. “You have to think out of the box about what kind of a

18 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business SHANNON TAGGART solution can help you. That could mean different solutions for lower Manhattan caused by Hurricane Sandy led to some refine- different firms, and learning to adapt the most appropriate solu- ments in our underwriting. According to FEMA maps, while tion for a given situation in a constrained environment is key, office buildings may be on the opposite side of the street from a for example for small firms, creating a ‘hub solution’ that can be flood zone, basements in these buildings, which often contain leveraged by many may be more appropriate—but then how do the mechanicals, may still be flooded by a storm surge.” you govern it, align it, and create the right incentive structure to Travelers is constantly combining data and observations from be alert in case of a crisis are what a Simon graduate does well,” past events with factors related to more recent severe weather he explains. “Big firms have a lot of resources that small firms trends to better understand the risks it is taking. “A storm like do not, but sustainability of business is re- Sandy was in our playbook,” Benet says, quired on all fronts for both large and small As Vice Chairman and CFO of The Travelers “but hopefully we will not see a storm like firms. Simon graduates are well prepared Companies, Jay Benet deals with crisis on a that every year.” The company also dedi- to create very innovative plans based on regular basis. Travelers uses detailed data cates a great deal of resources to educate the requirements,” he says. and modeling to predict potential impact on policyholders on how best to prepare for Uncertainty associated with weather is customers and its business. and prevent damage from the next big something Jay S. Benet ’76S (MBA), Vice storm or other major disaster. “We are in Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of The Travelers Com- the business of managing risk, and we have been helping cus- panies, Inc., considers every day in his work for this Dow 30 tomers for 160 years,” he notes. company. Benet oversees financial operations for Travelers, a Risk is something that David Khani ’93S (MBA) deals with ev- company that specializes in providing property casualty insur- ery day in his job as CFO of CONSOL Energy Inc., the Pitts- ance for businesses and individuals. “Given the scope of our burgh-based natural gas and coal producer. CONSOL Energy is operations in the United States, whenever there is a weather-related event of any magnitude, chances are we will be helping policyholders to recover and move on with their lives,” Benet says. That was certainly the case in the after- math of Hurricane Sandy, which affected not only Travelers’ policyholders but its own operations as well. “Having highly detailed business continuity plans in place before an event occurs is crucial in our business. Our Claim Operations positioned tanker trucks in the tri-state area to pro- vide fuel for vehicles used by our claims adjusters, allowing them to continue to access damaged sites,” Benet said. “We also were able to quickly and seamlessly relocate staff from our Morristown, New Jersey, office to a nearby Marriott that had power and to provide necessary assistance to our agents who had lost power in their offices.” the largest US underground miner of coal, a leading producer of Benet indicated that Travelers invests a significant amount of shale and CBM gas and liquids from the Marcellus Shale field, time and effort in analyzing extremely detailed data related to and is transitioning its active exploration program into develop- catastrophes, both natural and man-made, using highly sophis- ment mode in the Utica Shale site. Khani, who joined CONSOL ticated computer models to estimate potential losses and their Energy in September 2011, spent nearly 20 years in investment probabilities. While he noted the enormous strides predic- banking, with his most recent position as the Director of Re- tive modeling has made in recent years, he cautioned that loss search at FBR Capital Markets. Both of these businesses operate estimates will never be totally precise nor will the models say with above-average risk. “When you think about the inherent where or when the next event will occur. “Events happen all the risks, particularly in underground coal mining, we are faced with time and you know the models are imperfect, so you constantly business continuity issues on a regular basis,” Khani says; in fact, update and refine them based upon new information, examin- his industry faces three main risks: operational, commodity, ing what they then say about pricing, product structure and risk and regulatory. “While we focus on controlling the operational management going forward,” he says. “For example, flooding in risk through our core values of safety and compliance, managing

SHANNON TAGGART Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 19 From Tragedy to Triumph Using the power of crowd-sourced philanthropy, social media, and social networking, the Boston tech community mobilized to support the Boston Marathon bombing victims and their families.

BY CHARLA STEVENS KUCKO When Jeff Fagnan ’98S (MBA), a Partner at Boston-based venture capital firm Atlas Venture, co-founded a foundation called Technology Underwriting Greater Good (TUGG), he had no idea its crowd-sourced philanthropy model would become a catalyst for responding to a senseless, violent tragedy. TUGG was originally created to harness the giving power of the New England tech community and provide a platform for social innovation to benefit local nonprofits. The initial concept, proven out over the past five years, was to actively engage Boston’s tech community in fundraising and to bring entrepreneurs and non-profit members together with the goal of helping Boston’s underserved youth reach their full potential. Fagnan and TUGG Co-Founders Hemant Taneja and Dana Samuels were targeting the 28-35 demographic, which was just starting to think about philanthropy and giving back to the community. “We said, ‘Let’s look at social innovation in nonprofits and see if we can solve some of society’s problems with the brainpower of this network,’” deciding where the funds would go. TUGG donated directly to six Fagnan says. What that network became in the days after the Boston fundraising efforts focused on the victims. bombings is nothing short of remarkable. It became clear early on that amputees and their families were one Phil Beauregard, an entrepreneur active in the TUGG community group that would need extended, long-term help. “We asked ourselves, and Co-Founder of Atlas portfolio company Objective Logistics, wasted ‘How can we work with them to get back to a normal day-to-day, no time in putting this network into action. “Phil reached out to us on whether through athletic activities or employment opportunities; how Monday, only hours after the bombing, and asked if TUGG could be can we help them obtain prosthetics, rehab, and a variety of things?” used as a conduit to the tech community to help raise money for the Fagnan says. victims and their families,” Fagnan says. “It was somewhat outside of About the same time this was happening, Jothy Rosenberg, well our charter, but the TUGG board came together quickly and fundraising known by Fagnan and others in the Boston tech community, also began immediately.” Within minutes Fagnan, Beauregard, and TUGG reached out to ask for funds for the bombing victims. Rosenberg’s Executive Director David Brown had a fundraising Who Says I Can’t Foundation (www.whosaysicant. page up on Fundraise.com, another TUGG When terror struck the Boston org) is an organization founded to help amputees supporter and Atlas portfolio company, for the Marathon, Jeff Fagan rallied the and others with disabilities rebuild their abilities tech community to give back. support of his colleagues in the tech and self-esteem through sports. Fagnan and the community. Together, TUGG raised members of TUGG quickly decided that donating With an initial goal of raising $50,000 to $325,000 for victims and their to Who Says I Can’t was a great way they could directly support victims and their families, the families. The money helped provide help these victims. tech community responded far beyond Fagnan’s much needed prosthetics A 40-year cancer survivor, Rosenberg lost a expectations. “Within 24 hours, we raised and physical rehabilitation. leg to osteosarcoma at 16, and three years later, $150,000,” he says. “The effort went viral—and it spread and he lost a lung. Thinking he would when all was said and done, we raised about $325,000 from more not have long to live, he threw himself into skiing to rebuild his lost than 2,000 donors across the 50 states and five continents.” With zero self-esteem by getting good at a sport he loved. The next spring, after overhead, TUGG would donate 100 percent of funds raised. skiing for 100 days straight and surprised he was still alive, Rosenberg Fagnan notes that such an effort would have been impossible began to plan for the future. That led to biking from Boston to New York 10 years ago. “We were processing donations about one every 10 City in the annual AIDS ride; swimming in the Alcatraz Sharkfest for the seconds at the height of the effort,” he says. “It was all due to seamless past 20 years; earning a PhD in Computer Science; getting married and technology and the ability to reach millions of people through social having children; starting eight high-tech companies; writing four books, media and a network that we had been cultivating with TUGG for including Who Says I Can’t; creating and hosting a TV show by the five years.” same name on a YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/WSICTV); and The next step was deciding where the money would best serve conducting major cyber-security research projects for the Pentagon— the victims and their families. Fagnan says a lot of thought went into and that’s just for starters.

20 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business MICHAEL PIAZZA Rosenberg created the Who Says I Can’t Foundation because he wanted to help others who have been knocked down by life because of a disability realize that they could overcome it though sports. It is something he discovered first hand. “Lots of people who didn’t mean any harm by it would say, ‘Oh, now that you’re hiking on crutches, you can’t go hike those hills,’ or ‘You can’t ski on one ski,’ ” he explains. “It all revolves around saying, ‘You can’t.’ But there’s a good side to it. It makes people fight back. It’s a challenge.”

After hearing about the bombings, Rosenberg’s first thoughts focused on how he could help the amputees to obtain prosthetics and to learn how to use them. “What if someone says, ‘I’d like to try running even though I’ve lost my leg?’ A good running prosthetic costs $10,000 and it’s not covered by insurance, so how do you get one and where do you learn to use it? Who’s a good coach to teach you the right way to run and get your technique going? That’s what we do,” he says.e “W have partners in the prosthetics business who can make those legs and we also have physical therapists who are specialized gait experts. We do the same thing with surfing, and we can offer people rowing, surfing, skiing, sailing, biking, and swimming.” Ironically, Rosenberg got approval from the IRS in early April, just before the bombings, to become a public charity through Comerica Bank’s charitable services division, which enables small startup foundations to manage investments for very low fees. Rosenberg will reach out to the victims through the Boston Public Health Commission when the time is right and they are ready to get started. “They are going to be amazed at CONSOL’s David Khani understands the value of crisis planning. He what they can do,” he says. “It’s going to be hard work, but they manages the risk to the energy company’s coal, gas, and shale opera- will achieve it—and when they do, they will feel so good.” tions through rigorous safety and compliance measures.

through commodity price volatility swings of 50 to 100 percent is very challenging. In June, we woke up to the Obama Admin- istration pushing again to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. To invest large capital dollars in the face of this risk is challeng- ing, especially when the rules and landscape can change on a dime.” Add to that the strategic objective of growth and, Khani be- lieves, that makes it even more challenging. CONSOL Energy manages operational risk and promotes business continuity by adhering to its core values of safety and compliance. “Safety and compliance start with our senior management team and set the tone for our strategic development. We determine our incentives for management and employees based on their performance against these core values. Second, we empower our employees to stop operations if they feel things are unsafe. Third, we spent about $1.2 billion of capital over the past six years to improve safety and compliance, which ultimately pro- vides a positive return above our capital to our shareholders,” Khani says. Jothy Rosenberg rides in the Pan-Mass Challenge Bike-a-Thon Khani says you also learn from the mistakes of your competi- to raise money for cancer research. tors. “We have strengthened our internal forecasting capability

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 21 Commander Sean Navigating a Crisis Carroll ’02S (MBA) What started out as a day of celebration in Boston, quickly turned to an is Chief of Response for the Boston emergency situation that put the coastline of Massachusetts on high Sector of the US alert. Simon alum Sean Carroll played a critical role in securing the port. Coast Guard.

BY CHARLA STEVENS KUCKO It was a beautiful, sunny day in Boston on April 15 and the city was bustling with activity. Patriots’ Day is a civic holiday in Massachusetts commemorating the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Schools and businesses are closed in preparation for the daylong festivities: a Red Sox home game at Fenway Park, and the annual running of the Boston Marathon. For Commander Sean Carroll ’02S (MBA), Chief of Response for US Coast Guard Boston Sector, it began as a quiet day spent visiting one of the units in Hull, Massachusetts, just south of Boston. Staring toward the ocean with America’s first lighthouse in sight, Hull looks as if it’s worlds away from the city. But if you glance over your shoulder, you can see the skyscrapers against a backdrop of blue. “We had a great morning visiting our station, talking to the crew and touring the boats. We had a working lunch, and then we drove back,” Carroll recalls. Back in the office, Carroll and his team began to hear radio results of the Marathon and thought everything was going well. He ventured out to call our command center to find out what’s going on,” he says. on the base to run a few errands; as he was in the store, initial TV news The Coast Guard Command Center was getting flooded with calls, reports of the bombing filled the once-tranquil air. and Carroll was racing to understand what had indeed happened. “The “In a crisis, everyone clusters around the TV, and your first instinct is flow of information in any crisis or disaster is unpredictable, chaotic,

22 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business US COAST GUARD and often inaccurate,” he says. “In the beginning, I was trying to help us weather commodity price volatility,” he explains. to process the information that we had and decide what were “The quantitative and problem solving aspects I learned at my next steps as a military member.” Simon helped me develop strong forecasting expertise as a nat- With clear jurisdiction for the waterfront, Carroll and his ural resources analyst. CONSOL Energy has recently avoided team immediately assessed whether there was a threat in a very large pitfall that has clipped about two-thirds of the the harbor and the businesses along the waterfront. It helps nearly $2 trillion global natural resources companies. Over the that the Coast Guard works closely with all local branches past two years, many companies have made large acquisitions of law enforcement, including the FBI, Boston police, and near the top of the commodity cycle and used cheap short- Massachusetts state police on a regular basis. term debt to fund it. As a result, many of our peers are under “We’re prepared for so many different disasters,” Carroll extra duress to pay for these acquisitions as well as refinance says. “Consider a heavy weather event that would wipe out the their debt at the highest risk premium portion of the current port or affect the flow of traffic, a manmade or natural disaster commodity down cycle. To preserve our balance sheet in the that impacts the flow of commerce and the security there. We downturn and to maintain our organic growth, CONSOL En- are ready for those. But what do you do when there’s a disaster ergy opted to sell certain non-core assets and added partners close to your port, yet not directly related to the water?” with our shale assets—as opposed to many companies who opted to purchase assets at inopportune times.” In addition to the two bombings on Boylston Street, there In the event of a crisis, CONSOL Energy’s senior manage- was report of a third explosion near the JFK Presidential ment and operations teams come together and handle it. “If it’s Library on the waterfront. That would eventually be proven a gas issue, we’ll have our gas team; if it’s our coal operations, false, but it was important information at the time. What it’s our coal team, plus our core set of executives,” Khani says. happened next was unprecedented. Carroll’s team raised the “We adjust to the situation.” One of the keys to success is to maritime security level in the port. “We have the authority communicate well within the organization and to continually to do that, but only the Commandant of the Coast Guard in challenge the status quo. Washington, DC has the ability to lower it afterward,” he says. In addition to the company’s 9,000 employees, CONSOL “Once we do that, it immediately captures national attention.” Energy hires thousands of third-party contractors and vendors Suddenly, Carroll was on conference calls with Washington to work on their operational sites. “This adds another layer of as well as Boston headquarters, trying to explain the perceived risk to the equation when our vendors do not share the same threat and what the response would be. core values that we do,” Khani explains. “So instead of ac- As the minutes and hours progressed, clearer information cepting this, we take more control by enforcing our standards emerged and it was determined that the threat was greatest and hosting training summits. We also incorporate contractor for passenger-carrying vessels should the suspects attempt to safety into our employee incentive compensation structure.” flee by water. Khani’s advice for dealing with crises is based on his own “We had 100 percent coverage on every ferry in Boston experience, not only at CONSOL Energy, but also at FBR. The from that Monday evening through Saturday afternoon after 2008 financial crisis happened while he was the Director of Re- the second suspect had been apprehended,” Carroll says. search overseeing 100 employees. He watched as Bear Stearns, “We couldn’t have done that on our own. We requested a which cleared many of the industry’s market trades, collapsed. deployable group, which is a separate command with tactical “Our business could’ve been interrupted for a while if the gov- capabilities; we already shared a strong relationship with ernment hadn’t assisted JPMorgan in buying Bear Stearns,” them over the years through practicing, training, and mutual Khani recalls. “A lot of market activity would’ve imploded if support of each other’s mission needs,” he explains. “We also that hadn’t happened.” With over $100 million worth of trad- had a reserve force and were able to invite some of them to ing activity at risk, Khani says it was a scary moment work- participate, so we had the ability to have coverage on every ing toward getting a second clearing company. Being down for ferry coming and going in the harbor.” an extended period of time could have resulted in a lot of lost Commuters were relieved to see the Coast Guard presence revenue. “At FBR, we anticipated the financial crisis and were on the ferries and had very few complaints. In a less visible much better prepared than most in the downturn,” he says. activity, harbor patrols were checking waterfront facilities— The Simon education prepared him well for the historic shift factories, plants, docks—to see that they were safe and secure. in landscape within the commodity and financial markets. “I’ve “It’s an ongoing dialogue with all of our partners with whom come across many processes and schools of thought that were we work all year long,” Carroll says. “It validates all the time in place for a long time and for good reason. However, to be and effort we put into these relationships on a regular basis. able to predict the future properly and then convince people to The flip side of a crisis is that you really do see the best in maneuver off these has to be done through analysis and criti- people in their response to tragedy. We won’t soon forget the cal thinking. My Simon education has provided me with these courage that everyone showed in rising to the challenge and tools, and my experience has taught me to avoid the status making sure it would be answered.” quo,” Khani explains. s

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 23 SECOND HOME Simon continues to expand into New York City with signature academic programs and events aimed at attracting busy career builders and raising the School’s visibility nationwide. By Charla Stevens Kucko

24 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business ike any entrepreneurial venture, it all started with an idea. Simon began its expansion into Manhattan with the MS in Finance in NYC program and 19 students, a move prompted by a stu- dent project in Dean Mark Zupan’s Meliora course on ideas to improve the School. “New York City is our second home,” Zupan had said. “It’s the number one recruiting base outside of Rochester, the number one placement opportunity for our graduating students, and still the world’s financial and media capital, so it’s absolutely critical that we have a presence there.” After internal discussions with administrators and senior faculty, the School pur- sued the idea and moved forward with a strategy to expand its presence in New York City. Resources were dedicated and the School hired Janet Anderson ’90S (MBA) as Executive Director of Professional Programs, to lead the effort. “We assessed how we could best utilize our proximity to New York City to help the School,” explains Carin Conlon ’99S (MBA), Assistant Dean for Executive and Professional Programs, who oversees the School’s Executive MBA, part-time MBA and MS, non-degree, online, and international program offerings. “We determined that the best ways to do that ISTOCKPHOTO L Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 25 were through educational programs that would build corporate promotions either while enrolled in the program or in the three relationships, enhance placement, raise our brand profile in the months subsequent to that,” she notes. “The word has spread, area and beyond—and engage alumni, since that is our second and we’re now getting student recommendations from one class largest alumni base overall.” to the next, helping our recruiting efforts. Clearly, there is a high Anderson later hired a Manhattan-based staff member to help degree of satisfaction and ROI, as graduates are promoting the with daily operations and program administration. In just three program among their peers and others.” years, Simon’s New York City presence has grown significantly. As Managing Partner and Head of Alternative Investments “We have had more than 70 students attend the program, so we at Belpointe in New York City and a frequent CNBC contribu- now have a growing base of new alumni in New York City thanks tor, Jeffery Tomasulo ’95, MS Candidate Class of 2014, is always to having a part-time program there,” Anderson says. “Those stu- anticipating the next big stock market opportunity. Jeff ’s clients dents represent more than 50 unique employers, so that creates depend on him, as a trader and investor, to analyze the markets an opportunity to build relationships that may lead to job oppor- and come up with new and promising investment opportunities. tunities for our students in Rochester. Simon also hosts an array That keen eye serves Jeff well, both in his work for his clients and of social events and guest lectures attended by both Rochester- in his own career. and New York City-based alumni and students. That offers a new With the goal of advancing his career and building an aca- network that we just didn’t have before, and that’s pretty power- demic foundation in finance, Jeff started looking into master’s ful,” Anderson says. programs in Finance in late 2012. When he heard about Simon’s MS in Finance in New York City, he wasn’t sure he would have uilding on that success, Simon introduced a new MS the time to devote to earning a graduate degree with his de- in Management in New York City in July, targeting manding work schedule. But, he says, Simon made it possible students with either a liberal arts background or tech- by offering courses on alternate weekends in a convenient mid- nical degree who are looking for a solid underpinning town Manhattan location at the AMA on a flexible, accelerated in management studies. Students take classes on the part-time basis—something other top business schools aren’t same weekends as MS in Finance students, further currently providing. The remaining two courses are each a week Bincreasing their networking opportunities. The School has re- long and delivered in Rochester in July and at a European lo- ceived extension center status at the American Management cation at the end of the program in March of the second year, Association (AMA) site from the New York State Department respectively. Jeff is one of 26 MSF in New York City students of Education, and plans are under way for additional program working toward a graduate degree in Finance in just 13 months. offerings there in the near future. “One thing that we’re doing “I think the program is great for someone like me, who’s been as part of the growth plan is to acquire space in New York City,” working in finance for 20 years,” Jeff says. “New York City is the Anderson says. “That space not only gives us the opportunity to finance capital of the world, so having a presence here is key. Be- offer programs there, but also provides our students in Roches- ing a UR alum, pursuing a Simon master’s program in New York ter with a home in New York City.” makes me very proud.” To achieve that objective, Simon has subleased more space in Students also have the option to return to Rochester to earn a the AMA building to establish a local hub for student services Simon MBA in just one additional year of study within five years and support, in addition to the existing classrooms. According to of completing the MS degree. Dan Shin ’13S (MS) is the first MSF Conlon, having a home in New York City makes it more acces- graduate enrolling this fall to complete his MBA. sible for Simon students and corporate partners in the tri-state area to engage with Simon. “It helps us make our students more nother goal of Simon’s New York City expansion is accessible to employers; it gives students additional job and in- to build brand awareness through signature events ternship opportunities; and, by building our brand awareness in such as the fourth annual Simon New York City the area, it helps bring new opportunities to the School, whether Conference, held this past spring at the Roosevelt that’s students, corporate partners for hiring, or additional pro- Hotel. Each year, the conference brings together grams,” she says. leading policy makers, industry leaders, academics, Company leaders are noticing. Anderson says feedback has Aand national media to discuss critical issues of financial regula- been positive. “Employers we’ve reached out to understand tion and the business considerations it affects. The theme was the benefit of the programs that we’re offering because they “Reform at a Crossroad: Economic Transformation in the Year now have the ability to improve the skill set of their employ- Ahead,” which featured Executive of the Year Award recipient ees through a rigorous Simon education,” she says. “The format Lou Gerstner, Chairman of The Carlyle Group and former Chair- works extremely well over a 13-month period and the downtime man and CEO of IBM Corp.; Steve Forbes, CEO and Editor-in- is minimal, allowing for a very concentrated program of study Chief of Forbes Media Inc.; Charles Plosser, President and CEO for that time period. of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and former Simon “We now have the inaugural MS in Finance class a year School Dean; and Joan Solotar, Senior Managing Director, Head later from graduation, and two thirds of that class received of the External Relations and Strategy Group, The Blackstone

26 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business Steve Forbes (above), Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, was a featured speaker at the 2013 Simon New York City Conference. Forbes offered his unique perspective on global economic reforms and Ameri- ca’s sluggish economic recovery.

says Dean Zupan. “This conference is a way to epitomize that.” Conlon, who oversaw the conference, couldn’t agree more. “The value of the conference is being able to present that caliber of speaker in a unique setting so that students, alumni, and our corporate partners can benefit from bringing them together,” she says. “Another aspect is the opportunity for both senior alumni and faculty to share their thoughts and perceptions on what is happening in the global economy today.” Group, in addition to other notable Simon and University fac- Conlon is especially proud of how much has been accom- ulty and C-level alumni. Past conferences have featured Jamie plished in New York City over the past four years since the idea Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Jeffrey came out of the Meliora course. “We went from a glimmer in Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric; Christopher J. someone’s eye to having two degree programs plus the annual Christie, Governor of the State of New Jersey; Lawrence Kudlow conference with the stature and the media reach that it has. It’s ’69, Host of CNBC’s The Kudlow Report; Robert Khuzami ’79, for- really incredible for an academic institution to accomplish all of mer Chief Enforcement Officer at the Securities and Exchange that so quickly with such a small team.” Commission; and Richard Cordray, inaugural head of the Con- Anderson says the success of the expansion was the culmina- sumer Finance Protection Bureau. tion of many factors working together. “It grew from a student The conference is designed to build brand awareness through idea, to an alum, Dan Lazarek ’91S (MBA), who felt passionate media coverage, engage alumni from the tri-state area, and pro- enough to provide seed money toward it, to a dean willing to vide a learning and networking event for Simon students while take a risk and bring someone in to lead it, to an advisory board engaging valuable corporate partners who attend as guests. to get things started and make it happen collectively, and to the “We’re making a difference, and our vision includes articulat- engagement of the New York City community to help improve it. ing the role entrepreneurs and markets play in bettering society,” It was truly a collaborative effort.” s

SHANNON TAGGART Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 27 Doug Petno is CEO of Commercial Banking for JPMorgan Chase & Co. He and his wife, Lisa, are active members of the George Eastman Circle, the University of Rochester’s leadership annual giving society.

28 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business The Balance of Success As CEO of JPMorgan’s Commercial Banking, Doug Petno still relies on the principles he learned at Simon. By Joy Underhill

hen Doug Petno ’89S (MBA) earned his undergraduate degree in biol- ogy from Wabash College in Indiana, he already knew he wanted to make his way to the financial district of New York City. He also knew that coming from a small men’s school, he needed a degree that could get him there. That is when he started looking at Simon. “At the time, William Simon had just put his name on the business Wschool,” Petno says. “I flew out with my dad and we liked what we saw. The smaller size appealed to me, and the School was growing. It was open to students without work experience, so it looked like the perfect fit.” When Petno graduated from Simon, he immediately put his degree to good use and Distinguished Alumnus Award-winner Doug joined JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he has spent more than 20 years. Petno began Petno addresses the Class of 2013. in investment banking for energy industries and progressively moved up the ranks into executive positions at the firm. He eventually became global head of the Natural “There are only 24 hours Resources Investment Banking Group, where he participated in some of the largest transactions in the energy industry. In 2012, Petno was named CEO of Commercial in the day.” Banking, one of four primary lines of business at JPMorgan Chase. In his acceptance speech, Petno urged the “In Commercial Banking, we serve midsize and large firms, anywhere from $15 mil- graduating class to consider goals, career lion to $2 billion in revenues,” Petno says. “We work with domestic companies, but will choices, and a healthy work/life balance. help them if they expand into global markets.” He says he was fortunate to be well po- sitioned with JPMorgan Chase after the 2008 financial crisis, a time when, he says, the “The world has changed in many ways, but firm was moving people around and going deeper into its bench for expertise and talent. the old truth still holds. The only real reliable Petno’s recipe for success is simple: hard work, patience, and taking a long-term path to achieving your goals is through hard view. “We’ve been through five bank mergers in my time here, and during each one, work. For me, that meant making sacrifices we had to ride out the low points,” he says. “Consolidation is very disruptive, but and many compromises. There are only eventually it leads to opportunity, and we’ve ended up stronger as a result.” 24 hours in the day, and it’s not clear that Petno says he was also blessed with some great mentors along the way, people who there is going to be an app invented to knew he was dedicated and worked hard and who brought him along as they moved change that. So in those 24 hours, you have up in the company. “A head-down attitude and a dedication to getting the job done to make choices. How much time do you can take you far in this industry,” he notes. want to spend at work? How much time Petno says two of his favorite Simon professors were Cliff Smith and Cliff Holderness. do you want to spend with your family and “Smith had a knack for making the complex easy to understand,” he says. “I really friends? How much time do you want to thrived in Simon’s learning environment. Engaging with more experienced and interna- spend sleeping? The same principles hold tional students when we worked on team projects was a great learning opportunity.” true for the kind of rewards you are seeking As he makes decisions today at JPMorgan Chase, Petno says he still employs the core in the jobs that you consider. If you dedicate principles he learned at Simon, namely basic economics, free-market theories, and an your careers to a not-for-profit, that can be analytical approach to decision making. “I’m encouraged to see the New York City- a noble and rewarding choice, but it’s not based graduate programs in Finance and Management getting off the ground,” he says. likely to lead to great financial reward. If you “Having a New York City presence will help raise the visibility of the School even more.” dedicate yourself exclusively to the pursuit During his off-hours, Petno says he enjoys family time with his four children and of wealth, you may find that you’re missing fitting in a little running. He recently readThe Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. the chance to enjoy the enormous sense of Christensen, a book that discusses the concept of disruptive technologies. “I was in- accomplishment that comes from making trigued with the idea that listening to what our customers want does not drive break- a positive difference in the world. There are through technologies,” he says. “According to this author, up-and-coming companies no easy answers here. But there is a balance are looking to give people products they didn’t even know they wanted, much along that you can strike on your own. You just the lines of products like the iPad.” s need to know where and how to look for it.”

JOHN SMILLIE (OPPOSITE); ANNETTE DRAGON (COMMENCEMENT) Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 29 30 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business Entrepreneurial

The second largest country in the world is Indiaseeing a new era in economic development, and Simon graduates are ready to seize the opportunities. By Hilary Appelman

ore than 7,000 miles separate India and upstate New York. But despite that distance, graduates of the University of Rochester and the Simon School have found success putting what they learned at school to work in India. “India is a land of great diversity, hence great opportunity,” says Sanjay Kapoor ’91S (MBA), a leading fashion industry magnate. Despite the recent slowdown of the Indian economy, Kapoor says, “there are many avenues for entrepreneur- ship available.” Nandini Sankar ’97, whose dual economics and computer degrees paved the M way to a top job at a major hedge fund administrator, agrees. India offers “a fer- tile environment for new business ideas,” she says. The world’s second largest country, with a population of more than 1.2 bil- lion, India has grown to become a trillion-dollar economy. The coming of age of India’s baby boom is expected to create huge growth in consumer spending. A recent report by the Boston Consulting Group, “The Tiger Roars: Capturing In- Sanjay Kapoor left the world of bank- dia’s Explosive Growth in Consumer Spending,” predicts that runaway growth ing to form Genesis Colors, a luxury in the middle and upper classes will drive annual consumer spending in India to apparel retailer that carries the $3.6 trillion by 2020, quadruple its 2012 level. India’s average household income world’s top brands. Now in 20 major is predicted to triple in the same period. cities in India, the company’s annual The Simon School is “well positioned to capitalize on the growing impor- growth is 40 to 50 percent. tance and influence of the Indian market,” says Dean Mark Zupan. “We have

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 31 well-established channels through which to attract high-achiev- in Singapore and then in India. Kapoor ing students, and an alumni network that is represented in all soon left the banking world to branch facets of the Indian economy. In the coming years, it will be out on his own, joining forces with Citi important for our school to remain highly visible to prospective colleague Jyoti Narula to start a designer- students, hiring managers, and stakeholders in India.” wear retail business. The company, Gene- “The growth opportunities for companies are in emerging sis Colors Pvt. Ltd., got its start exporting markets, so MBA interest is starting to follow,” says Delores Con- neckties and in 2001 acquired the popular way, Senior Associate Dean for Engagement and Planning, who Indian fashion brand Satya Paul. oversaw the Simon School’s Career Management Center and Today, Genesis Colors is India’s top works with multinational corporations to place Simon gradu- luxury retailer, marketing and distribut- ates. Indeed, last year’s QS TopMBA.com Jobs & Salary Trends ing international luxury brands, including Report found that hiring in the previous year had increased 16 Burberry, Canali, Jimmy Choo, Bottega percent in India and was expected to grow another 29 percent in Veneta, and Paul Smith. The company has 2012–2013, compared to just two percent growth predicted for expanded rapidly, opening boutiques out- the United States. side Delhi and Mumbai in metropolitan areas such as Chennai and Hyderabad. It n the past, US multinationals might have has a presence in 20 major cities in India, sent American executives overseas, including 130 stand-alone brand outlets complete with American salaries, housing and 65 shop-in-shops. The company’s an- allowances, and travel expenses. But that nual growth is in the neighborhood of 40 I model is becoming too expensive, Conway to 50 percent, Kapoor has said, and an says. “What they really want is to have local IPO is planned in the near future. candidates who are trained in the United Even as growth in much of India’s States and can speak English well.” economy has slowed, the luxury mar- “Where are these companies growing their business? In the ket has continued to grow at 20 percent emerging markets,” Conway says. “They come to us because they annually, fueled by India’s tremendous know how strong the Simon training is and that they’re getting growth in disposable income and stan- top candidates.” dard of living. A study by Yes Bank-Asso- The economic picture in India is not all rosy, however, after cham predicted the Indian luxury market growing rapidly between 2006 and 2011—even as much of the would reach $15 billion by 2015. “People are getting used to rest of the world fell into recession—India’s GDP growth slowed consumption, and people want to look good,” Kapoor said in an in recent years to around five percent, a result of global, domes- interview with India’s business newspaper Mint. tic, and policy challenges. Many economists believe that the The frequent subject of admiring profiles and photo spreads worst is over, though, and that a modest recovery is under way. in the Indian press, Kapoor is credited with corporatizing India’s Citi India’s CEO, Pramit Jhaveri ’87S (MBA), is predicting a “shal- fashion market, and with making Genesis Colors the first Indian low recovery” and 5.7 percent GDP growth in 2014, as is the fashion company to obtain private equity funding. L Capital IMF. Forecasts call for growth in the 6.1 to 6.7 percent range. Asia—a private equity fund of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy India’s government has responded to the economic slowdown Group—has a large stake in Genesis Colors’ subsidiary Genesis by easing restrictions on foreign investment in its retail, civil Luxury Fashion. aviation, and broadcasting sectors. While the initial exuber- Kapoor credits his Simon education with honing his entrepre- ance of the investment climate has dimmed, targeted invest- neurial skills and teaching him “how to think in a global environ- ments still hold “significant potential,” Sankar says. “India retains ment.” His time with Citibank, he says, was “an invaluable asset” the energy and enthusiasm that fueled the country’s growth,” in learning how to run his own business, and especially in under- she notes. standing the nuances of private equity funding. “My experience India is often referred to as the next China, a comparison Ka- with Citibank gave me an insight into finances—profitability and poor embraces. cash flows—while responding to market needs,” he notes. “Absolutely!” he says. “The only thing that sets us behind Though there are many opportunities for entrepreneurs in In- China is infrastructure. In another 10 to 15 years, we will defi- dia, Kapoor says retail and supply-chain management offer par- nitely have bridged that gap.” ticularly good prospects for growth. “For anyone wanting to start Some 166 Simon School alumni—and 355 University of Roch- their own business, the retail environment is very fertile,” he says. ester graduates in all—live and work in India. Here are two of “There are so many domestic and international brands in the mar- their stories. ket today and many more lined up to enter. The consumption cul- Like many Simon graduates, the 44-year-old Kapoor went ture is at its peak. India is still one of the fastest growing economies to work for Citibank after earning his MBA from Simon, first in the world, and a hub for future retail second only to China.”

32 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business Kapoor notes that the government is focused on improv- Nandini Sankar moved home to India to set up her company’s Mumbai ing the business environment, and in particular on encouraging offices. She says operating in India gives global clients 24-hour support. foreign direct investment. Still needed, he says, are improved import policies and lower duties. But despite challenges such as including Sankar, established GlobeOp Financial Services, a inadequate infrastructure and burdensome regulations, Kapoor firm specializing in technology for hedge fund administration. believes the investment climate will continue to improve. “The GlobeOp was acquired by SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. good news is that the consumer is making a lot of choices that in 2012. are leading policy change,” he says. Sankar was GlobeOp’s Director of Technology, based out of New York, until she moved to India in 2003 to set up the com- ankar, 38, graduated from the University of pany’s Mumbai offices. Operating out of India allows GlobeOp to Rochester in 1997 with a BS in Computer give its global clients 24-hour coverage, Sankar says. Science and a BA in Economics. Today, she Sankar grew up in Chennai, the southeastern coastal city is Managing Director, COO, and President formerly known as Madras. She says she has been impressed by S for India of SS&C GlobeOp, a leading fund Mumbai. “I was enthusiastic by how quickly the city accepts new administrator that services the hedge fund immigrants, and by the fact that everyone—from a housemaid to and asset management industry. the CFO of an organization—approached their work with a high Sankar started out as a Computer Science major, but an Eco- level of professionalism and a can-do attitude.” nomics course with Professor Steven Landsburg hooked her on Sankar says her career path has been a series of “happy coin- that subject as well. After graduating, she interned with Coopers cidences,” including her return to India. “When you make the & Lybrand, then went to work as a technology strategist for the move to India you can choose to focus on the negatives—and Long Term Capital Management hedge fund. “LTCM allowed there are a lot of them—or search for the nuggets of gold,” she me to use both skill sets in tandem,” Sankar says. “At that time, it says. “Once you do that, you will be blown away by the tenacity was one of the few hedge funds that relied on very sophisticated of Indian people and their will to succeed.” risk models to determine their trading strategies.” Sankar sees exciting opportunities in India today across all After the demise of LTCM in 2000, a group of principals, industries. Chief among them, she says, is “getting firms to

SS&C GLOBE OP Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 33 indiaMap_130822.pdf 1 8/22/13 9:20 AM

TAJIKISTAN CHINA TURKMENISTAN

About India 0 500 miles Area: 1,269,219 square miles,

slightly more than one-third Mekong the size of the United States. Population: 1.2 billion H Jinsha R. New Delhi I M Languages: Hindi is the A L Ganges A Y primary language of 41% of A S Bikaner the population; there are NEPAL Agra BHUTAN 14 other official languages. Jaipur Lucknow Religions: Hindu (80.5%), Kanpur Patna Muslim (13.4%), Christian Allahabad Varanasi Ganges (2.3%), Sikh (1.9%) BANGLADESH Ahmadabad Bhopal Jabalpur Economy Indore Jamnagar Jamshedpur 2012 estimates; totals Vadodara in 2012 U.S. dollars. Narmada Kolkata 2.0 Rajkot Nagpur GDP: $1.825 trillion Surat 1.5 GDP (real growth rate): 6.5% Godavari INDIA 1.0 GDP (per capita): $3,900 0.5 Labor force: 486.6 million Mumbai 0.0 Vishakhapatnam Unemployment rate: 8.5% Pune Sholapur GDP Growth, 1988–2012 in trillions of dollars Investment (gross fixed): 12% Hyderabad 29.9% of GDP 10 Exports: $298.4 billion Krishna 8 6 Imports: $500.4 billion Panaji 4 2 0 Mangalore Chennai Change in GDP, 1988–2012 SOURCES: The CIA World Factbook; CIA Maps; Map Resources Bangalore SOURCE: The World Bank Coimbatore Pondicherry

compete on ability and not on cost.” not just to lower costs, but also to improve existing processes, San- The IT firms that spearheaded the wave Cochin Madurai kar says, “they will have leveraged India’s intellectual potential.” of outsourcing and offshoring business Asked about the biggest challenges to doing business in models in India were focused solely on cheaper SRI India, Sankar lists government regulations and laws that labor, she says. “The next few years will tap into the LANKA are “subject to various interpretations.” Partnering with latent intellectual talent in India. It will be exciting to com- a professional accounting firm and law firm is key, she pete on an equal footing with our Western counterparts.” says. In addition, companies need to be aware that “India is a land where relationships matter.” In recognition of that, SS&C lthough the initial exuberance of India’s GlobeOp holds twice-yearly open houses for families—parents as investment climate has muted, targeted well as children and spouses. Employees staff booths with infor- investments still hold significant potential, mation about each department, and families walk around learn- she says. “I believe that the next decade ing about the company and meeting managers and teams. Sankar A will see strides made by companies that says the open houses were a result of the company realizing that have learned from their initial mistakes, career decisions were rarely taken by individual employees alone. corrected their direction, and placed a “Building this connection with families was important,” she says. higher value on the integrity of processes and technology.” Sankar credits the University of Rochester with exposing her When American and European clients visit SS&C GlobeOp’s to a diverse, multicultural student body. “The ability to inter- India offices, Sankar says, she waits for the “Aha!” moment when act closely with students from various parts of the world was they meet the teams that service their account. eye-opening,” she says. “It allowed me to build social skill sets “Within 30 minutes they start recognizing the depth of knowl- that continue to help me in my current role.” The University also edge, attention to detail, and expertise of the staff in India,” she taught her to “take pride in the quality and integrity of my work, says, adding that clients routinely comment on the teams’ pride and not just the results,” she notes. “The School taught me that in their work, enthusiasm, and hunger for knowledge. “These if you focus on building the best process, the success of the out- are not teams that routinely follow a process and a checklist. come is guaranteed.” They have studied the process deeply, accounted for areas of Kapoor echoes the sentiment of building successes piece by risk, added compensating controls, and worked with technology piece. “India is a long-term business plan,” he says. “India is one of teams to develop enhancements in applications that will increase the most promising consumer environments in the world, but you productivity.” cannot enter expecting to make quick returns, which takes time. Once Americans recognize that India provides an opportunity You have to invest in the future, which is looking very bright.” s

34 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business STEVE BOERNER A Thoughtful Approach By Jim Stinson

Rohtash Mal is bullish on Indian and Asian business growth. the world which is now seeing real growth,” says Mal. “This part On the Indian subcontinent, Mal has built companies from the of the world is pregnant with possibility.” ground up and worked to turn around existing firms. Mal has shared his views at the Simon School. His son, But it was an experience building a telecommunications com- Adwitiya Mal, earned his MBA at Simon in 2007. Mal has served pany in 2001 that made Mal realize that there is a vital human el- on the Executive Advisory Committee and given lectures on do- ement to maintaining a thriving business, and it’s ing business in India. one not easily seen by executives. “Our school has been blessed to have Rohtash Mal’s in- Mal, the New Delhi-based Chairman of volvement,” says Dean Mark Zupan. EM3 Agri Services Pvt. Ltd. and Chair- Mal believes the science of management has limitations, man of investment fund Equitigro, saw and it’s necessary to look toward the art of management, that working with human resources to tap into the mind for new ways to manage. One prac- required carefully watching out for tice Mal recommends is “stilling oneself.” employees. And it wasn’t about making To do this, Mal will often sit in his office and not look at sure his employees were constantly fed the computer, reports, or news. He will just putter around adrenaline and deadlines, he says. What and stare into space. He says it sharpens his edge. he saw at the end of a successful startup was “This is a bit of a Zen-like thought that until you employees were anxious and unhappy. He are calm, collected, and composed, you did not like this side effect of success. cannot really make out the woods “You therefore have to make sure from the trees,” Mal says. “You that your human assets . . . are pro- can’t distill the problems, and actively maintained,” says Mal. thus you can’t think through “In human terms that means that creative solutions.” you look after their stress levels, “I think the world at large you make sure that they are oper- is suffering from a lot of ating to capacity, but they all get clutter and noise, and downtime. And therefore the chal- therefore there are seri- lenges become even stronger when ous problems that don’t you are dealing with startups.” get solved, personal as Since learning that lesson well as otherwise,” Mal in 2001, Mal has tackled new adds. “We actually challenges. end up creating far In 2007, Mal took over Escorts more problems with Ltd. as Executive Director and clutter and noise, CEO. The $1 billion Indian com- and these problems pany focuses on railway, farm- are easily resolved equipment, and automotive with silence and products. After turning Escorts stillness.” s Ltd. around, he stepped down last year; he now runs EM3, an agricultural services company, and Equitigro, a fund that seeks to invest in areas of the Indian economy “which are techno- After building and running logically undersaturated, and several successful compa- less served, but which have nies in India, Rohtash Mal says high impacts.” management is both a science “Clearly, this is the part of and an art.

COURTESY OF ROHTASH MAL Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 35 Indescribable

A remarkable country is quickly becoming Indiaone of the world’s top economic powers. Nowhere is this more evident than on the streets of Mumbai. By Janice Willett ’78S (MBA)

Author’s note: I was very fortunate to travel to Mumbai in March dressed people populate the sidewalks, along with beggars and with Christian Gordon, head of Advancement for Simon, where we an occasional goat. Louis Vuitton boutiques share frontage with met with a number of our alums. Christian is a born tour guide, in peddlers and their overloaded carts. The streets and sidewalks addition to his many other fine qualities; so if he ever invites you to are badly in need of sweeping. travel with him anywhere, just say yes. Below are some of my im- The traffic in Mumbai has to be seen to be believed. Mercedes pressions from the trip. sedans with chauffeurs and well-dressed occupants drive along- side battalions of little motor scooters porting entire families. een on the drive in from the airport Traffic lights seem to serve as guidelines rather than outright at night, the city of Mumbai looks mandates—and yet there is a great deal of self-imposed disci- like any other cosmopolitan city, pline and consideration that ultimately regulates the traffic quite with skyscrapers brightly illumi- well. I held my breath the first few times I watched pedestrians nated against the dark sky—and it is crossing streets, until I realized that the vehicles always stop just especially attractive because of its short of actual impact—it’s simply how people drive in Mum- S setting on the water. New York may bai—and there is an implicit level of trust on the part of the be the city that never sleeps, but pedestrians that is quite inspiring, if unnerving. That trust was with vast swarms of people out also evident on the part of the taxi drivers, who will patiently strolling on a balmy night, Mumbai at midnight puts New York wait hours for their passengers and take them from destination City to shame. We arrived at the beautiful Taj Mahal Palace to destination with no payment in advance and no requirement Hotel and I settled into a lovely room (a bargain at $200 per that something of value be left behind as surety. night) overlooking the Gateway of India. Breakfast in the The innate hospitality and friendliness of the people in Mum- morning was like breakfast at a fine hotel anywhere—an bai is also inspiring. At an alumni gathering one evening, Mukul elaborate buffet, fresh toast and tea, considerate service. Kasliwal ’88S (MBA) gently plucked a glass of sparkling water By daylight, though, Mumbai is clearly not a standard Western from my hands and instructed a nearby waiter to bring me an- city. At the foot of the stunning new skyscrapers lies the Dharavi other glass with no ice, explaining that my digestive tract wasn’t shantytown, of Slumdog Millionaire fame. Chic, fashionably ready for ice after only a few days in India. Such solicitousness

36 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business consumer in India. The panelists— Ashish Malik ’94S (MBA), Sanjay Ka- poor ’91S (MBA), and Aditya Narain, a colleague of Pramit Jhaveri ’87S (MBA)—noted that Indian consum- ers are very heterogeneous, and highlighted the critical importance of segmenting the market according to region and income. They also noted that Indian consumers are value seekers, so companies wanting to do business in India need to build their way up the price ladder. The empha- sis on value has influenced not only consumption but also production, with Malik observing that no one can beat Indian manufacturers for frugal engineering. The luxury market in particular is growing rapidly—but Kapoor observed that the definition of “luxury” matters, because Indian consumers aren’t necessarily looking to spend money on expensive holi- days. It was a very thoughtful discus- sion of consumer preferences—and, after all, that’s the big play in India, with its population of 1.2 billion and a projected 120 million new middle- class households by 2020 requiring The city of Mumbai bustles with energy and excitement. Tourists and housing, food, education, and all the amenities of modern life. As regular visitors find it alive with a sense of hospitality and charm. Narain pointed out, Indians have bank accounts with money in them, so consumer spending cannot be far behind. is not the norm in the United States, where we hesitate to offer The highlight of the trip was an excursion to the Maheshwar such personal aid unless asked. Indians, by contrast, make you hydroelectric facility outside Indore, generously and ably ar- feel that they are responsible for your entire well-being. ranged by Kasliwal with Puneet Jain ’11S (MBA) as our escort. It We met with a number of our Indian alums, who are smart, fo- was a study in all things India. The trip involved a domestic flight cused, and driven—and also gracious, cheerful, and philosophi- and a two-hour car ride through the countryside, where there is cal in a way that is very winning. Arriving quite late to dinner an astonishing amount of new construction interspersed among one night, we apologized profusely, but several of our alums ex- rudimentary one-acre family farms. The hydro plant itself is an claimed, “Mumbai traffic—we were all late, too!” They were be- impressive sight—ten enormous turbines, three of which are ing diplomatic, of course, but it was a very kind thing to say. ready to generate much-needed power to the area. In order to One cannot help but be struck by how hard India is trying to allow for water displacement, Kasliwal’s company has dutifully become a developed nation—and how messy is the process. It relocated nearly 10,000 families to newly built housing that is far made me wish that I could have seen New York City in the early superior to the villagers’ previous dwellings, and has also built 1900s, when people, horses, and the first automobiles vied for schools and roads and the like, but there is seemingly no end to space on narrow, rubble-strewn roads. We tend to forget that the hurdles that must be cleared. Doing business in India is chal- as recently as the 1970s and 1980s, New York was so dirty that lenging. It can be done, however—and business executives and when the wind blew, pedestrians were pelted with garbage (the taxi drivers alike spoke with pride about the state of Gujarat in In- big cleanup didn’t take place until the 1980s and 1990s). And In- dia, where the chief minister has been breaking through the mo- dians are rightly proud of the strides they are making—which is rass of government regulations to allow businesses to thrive. refreshing in comparison with the United States, where national Returning to New York, this Westerner was struck by how or- pride is becoming unfashionable. derly and substantial it all seemed—and yet so gray and sedate in That national pride, and national consciousness, was also comparison with Mumbai . . . very much in evidence at an alumni panel discussion of the new On to Delhi in December! s

ISTOCKPHOTO Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 37 Simon Leads the Way in Shifting Strategies Global leaders discuss recruiting the right talent. By Andrea Holland

With US markets on the decline and “emerging markets” hav- this: how do you recruit and retain the best possible interna- ing, in fact, emerged, world economic drivers are shifting. tional talent? In large part, the solution points to managing Exponential growth in China, India, and Brazil has stimulated expectations and shifting recruitment strategies. This strategy an increasing demand for skilled labor in those countries. Still, was the primary topic of discussion among seven companies many would-be international candidates remain, for the large that attended the Simon School’s Second Annual Conference part, wholly engaged in the dream of building their careers in on Global Talent Acquisition. the United States. The result: the world’s global talent pool is Outdated talent development and recruiting strategies are shrinking—that is, the projected stream of qualified and moti- failing to produce results in increasingly sophisticated growth vated candidates to fill increasingly critical roles within multi- markets. In sharp contrast to the expatriate model of establish- national companies is falling short. For those seeking to thrive ing American workers overseas and paying them US wages— in these dynamic market conditions, the challenge becomes a costly practice that disallows for succession planning—the

38 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business CORBIS new model for successful business development in high- challenges, the Simon School has infused its new Growth growth markets demands local talent that has been trained in Markets Program with strategies aimed at developing global- the United States. “It’s not a ‘strategy’ to simply set up shop ready talent for multinational companies with opportunities in in a foreign country to cut labor costs. Multinational compa- growth markets. “Our job is to determine the ideal candidate nies need to have a smarter approach,” says Interim Executive and guide them,” Clay noted. To that end, the program focuses Director of Simon’s Career Management Center Wendy Clay. on creating community and guiding students from admissions That shift now demands that companies mindfully balance fac- to placement. Professional development programs and interna- tors like salary and cultural drivers in their retention strategies. tional project and internship opportunities are also bolstering “If recruiters can understand that, they’ll be all the more suc- the educational experience. cessful,” Clay noted. International students face challenges that are unique and This new ideal foreign workforce possesses both local sen- in some ways more difficult than their US-based counterparts. sibilities and deep cultural understanding, combined with loy- “These students aren’t going to show up at a career fair and get alty for their US-based company. Ideal candidates would have a job based on their GPA or GMAT score, or on what school experienced a few years of training in the United States through they went to.” Clay said. “It’s a different, much more com- a rotational model that brings them full circle to a continued petitive process for them.” There is also the divide between career in their home countries. The road to fulfilling this ideal, students who want to return to their home country versus stu- though, is fraught with challenges. dents who want to remain in the United States. “If you think In the United States, career success is primarily a personal long term with your career, you’re going to end up earning experience. The “every man for himself ” ideal works here. This more if you get the right job and build your career the right is not the case in countries such as China or India, for exam- way,” she notes. ple, where individual success or failure in a job also has deep There are certainly students open to this idea. International ramifications for the person’s extended family. There, it’s about student from India Sandeep Jadhav, MBA Candidate 2013, said, pride and honor; it’s a family affair. Margaret Catillaz, Partner “Given the context of the global economy, you never know at Harter, Secrest & Emery LLP, noted that many candidates where the next opportunity will lie. Once you have in mind focus on “soft issues” when deciding how to build their career. what you want to do, follow your ambition or passion no mat- “In the United States, it doesn’t matter where you came from, but where you’re going. In foreign countries, it matters where you’re coming from, and that can be a difficult challenge to In the United States, career success overcome,” she said. Cultural perspectives such as this demand is primarily a personal experience. that companies offer benefits that appeal to the cultural values of a candidate. Increased access for an employee and his or her This is not the case in countries family to pro-social circles or elite events, for example, can of- such as China or India, where fer tremendous value in the Chinese market. Salary, though, remains a critical consideration. “In Brazil, individual success or failure in a we have people chasing salaries all the time,” said Steve Kalich- job also has deep ramifications for aran of Rich Products Corporation. “They might join us for two the person’s extended family. years and then leave based solely on salary.” A $3 billion food service supplier and solutions provider company based in Buf- falo, New York, Rich Products has also established operations ter where it takes you, be it in London, New York, Rochester, in China and India. While their entrée into these markets has or Hong Kong. The mindset of an MBA student should be truly led to successful operations overseas, the company recruits tal- global, not limited by geographies.” For 2013 MBA Candidate ent cautiously, as retention remains a challenge. “In India, we Lingling Chen ’12S (MS), a student from China, opportunities have candidates who will accept a job offer one day and then abound both at home and in the United States. “Without the come back the next to say ‘I have another job offer. If you can US experience, there are still so many great opportunities in better this one, I’ll come work for you,’” Kalicharan says. Bas- China. Either way, I feel I have a great advantage coming from ing recruitment efforts on dollars alone can backfire; success- Simon,” Chen said. ful recruitment strategies require companies to think beyond The challenge of developing effective recruitment and re- just salary. “It cannot be the only factor,” said Ada Tam, Senior tention strategies continues. Mark Goldstein, Chief Execu- Manager of Campus Recruiting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. tive Officer at Actuant Corporation, a $1.6 billion diversified “We survey to be sure that we are competitive, but we also industrial company based in Wisconsin, perhaps summed it want to ensure that we offer other valuable benefits like family up best when he observed, “You have to provide your people days for employees that appeal to the culture.” with the right career path, regardless of where they’re coming While companies like Rich Products, Pricewaterhouse­ from. You simply have to spend the time and you have to make Coopers, and others maneuver through these growth the investment.” s

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 39 Research Highlights

The Pulse of Advertising

A consumer products company comes out with a se- shoppers are not coming to the supermarket and ries of ads for a few months, takes a break, then airs a flipping a coin to decide what to buy, he says. That’s new set several months later. Inconsistent? Spotty? where price promotions come into play. Turns out this is good for business. In their paper, “If you go to the store and a brand is being sold at “Periodic Advertising Pulsing in a a promotional price, even though it’s not typically Competitive Market,” Simon Profes- your top choice, you may decide to buy it. Once you A new study shows brand sors Dan Horsky and Marshall Freimer buy it, you may like it and might decide to buy it loyalty may be the real built a theoretical model showing that again even when the price goes back up. In this way, advertising in concentrated bursts, price promotions make sense,” Horsky says. force behind competitive interspersed with breaks—called puls- The authors’ model had three groups of con- pulse advertising. ing—is the best advertising strategy. sumers: Two bought competing brands and a third The question of whether brands bought either from no one or from a generic brand or SALLY PARKER should pulse or use even-level adver- other non-competing product. Including a third op- tising has been studied since the 1950s. tion was key, Horsky says. Freimer and Horsky built on previous studies—their “It turns out that having this last group is cru- own and others—and examined the monthly ad- cial to get the answer we got. Intuition told us if you

researchHorsky_130801.pdfvertising behavior 1 8/3/13 of established 9:02 PM national brands in have only two groups, it’s you and I fighting it out on frequently purchased product categories. When they the market, and the consumer can choose only you or me. Monthly Advertising Expenditures “We definitely needed this assumption; we The national advertising expenditures by the two largest competing brands of snack couldn’t show our results without it. But if you ac- foods indicate that they advertise—and cease to advertise—in phase. tually think about it, it makes sense; there will be a group of people not buying from either one of you. If $12 million both Coke and Pepsi increase their prices or stop ad- Lay’s vertising, the third group will become larger.” $10 million Brand loyalty explains why competing brands have price promotions. “Intuitively this makes sense, but $8 million it took us many years to show it mathematically,” Doritos Horsky says. $6 million The same goes for advertising, he notes. Like price promotions, advertising pulses remind consumers of $4 million all their options. Horsky and Freimer show that the frequency of $2 million advertising pulsing depends on how much of the market share a brand retains—or, put another way, how much brand loyalty it engenders. The higher 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 that loyalty, the less frequent the advertising pulse

SOURCE: The IRI Marketing Data Set needs to be. They also show that the most effective advertising budgets change when the frequency of found these firms often use pulsing strategies, and in pulsing changes. fact pulse at the same time, they set out to find out In addition, higher profits await firms that adver- why brands don’t instead advertise at the same level tise in phase—pulse at the same time—which is con- consistently. sistent with firms’ behavior. In this paper, they build on a framework they es- “We showed mathematically that it produces tablished in a previous paper that examined an analo- higher profits than if one firm did it and then the gous puzzle—why firms use price promotions instead other took its turn,” Horsky notes. of having a constant price. He and Freimer conclude that consumers’ brand In previous empirical studies, Horsky found that loyalty “may well be the underlying force that leads consumers are brand loyal and that the consumer’s brands to use advertising pulsing,” they write. “The experience with a brand has more to do with his practice of competitive price promotion is likely to or her purchase choices than ads do. Brand-loyal have its roots in the same consumer phenomena.” s

40 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business Research Highlights

The Benefits of Debt

One of the basic tenets taught in business school is maybe at these points the prediction of theory would that debt is a good thing for profitable firms. They hold up,” Whited says. reap desirable tax deductions from the interest they The answer turned out to be yes. Profitable firms re- pay. Some of the research done on tradeoff theories ally do want higher leverage to shield these substantial of capital structure, however, predicts cash flows from taxes. The authors looked at periods that debt is actually a detriment. when firms both issued debt and initiated distributions Tradeoff theory is tested Not so, says a study of the account- to equity holders, both in large amounts. They found as researchers look at ing data for publicly traded firms in that when companies in these situations do rebalance, the United States, written by Simon’s more profitable ones choose higher leverage amounts. the relationship between Michael and Diane Jones Professor of “To our knowledge, this is the first bit of evidence leverage and profitability. Business Administration Toni Whited that actually supports one of the main things we and her colleagues Andras Danis and teach MBA students, which is that more profitable SALLY PARKER Daniel Rettl. They argue it is a benefit. firms should have more debt,” Whited says. “There is a very robust negative “This result is important inasmuch as any evidence correlation between profitability—profits/assets— of a positive correlation between profitability and and leverage—debt/assets,” Whited says. “When leverage has been sorely lacking in the literature,” profitability is high, leverage is low, and vice versa.” the authors write. “We have also found evidence that In their paper, “Testing Dynamic Tradeoff The- these refinancing events, although not frequent, are ory,” the authors decided to look at the relation- not necessarily rare. Thus, tradeoff theory is relevant ship between leverage and profitability when firms to a substantial fraction of our large sample of firms.” change their leverage in big ways. But at other times, the relationship between prof- They predicted that the results might be different itability and leverage is muddier. from previous studies, which focused on static trad- “Outside of major rebalancing events, in the real eoff models. world firms often issue and pay down debt in small “Testing these models requires identifying points amounts,” they write. “Thus, ‘tradeoff theory’ is at which firms actively choose an optimal capital useful for understanding major financial rebalanc- structure. The idea is that if they are making a big ing that is unaccompanied by changes in investment decision, they probably put some thought into it, so opportunities.” s

CORBIS Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 41 Research Highlights

Blue Firms Give More Green

Firms led by Democrats and headquartered in Dem- “This suggests some loss of firm financial value in ocratic-leaning states spend significantly more on exchange for any direct-value benefits to stakehold- corporate social responsibility than do their Republi- ers from social responsibility,” Kostovetsky says. can counterparts in Republican states, a Simon pro- The authors were surprised that such policy deci- fessor has found. sions were being made not just by CEOs but also While his finding didn’t surprise board members, founders, and other high-level New research looks at Assistant Professor Leonard Kos- managers, creating what Kostovetsky calls “a whole direct value theory as it tovetsky, the extent of the spending group dynamic.” did. He and co-author Alberta Di Giuli CSR is a hot topic in academic research right now. applies to corporate social estimate corporate social responsibil- What drives it is under debate. Why are companies responsibility spending. ity (CSR) costs Democratic-leaning spending on initiatives that do not drive profits for firms nearly $20 million more in an- their shareholders? SALLY PARKER nual selling, general, and administra- Kostovetsky and Di Giuli are the first to try to tive (SG&A) expenses, or about 10 measure a direct value theory for CSR spending. percent of net income, than GOP-led firms. That fig- They not only look at company variables, such as ure rockets to $80 million more in a sample of Stan- cash holdings or firm type, but take into consider- dard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 firms. ation specific stakeholder variables. The political “These are pretty expensive decisions they’re leanings of a range of high-level executives—from making. We were surprised by the magnitude of the company managers and founders to directors—come difference,” he says. “Managers are supposed to be into play, and it’s a pretty significant effect, Kos- impartial and not let their own beliefs enter into de- tovetsky says. cisions for large S&P 500 corporations.” There is no consensus on whether CSR is a fad or The authors use firm-level CSR ratings from will continue as a new business model. Kostovetsky, Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini & Co. Inc. in “Are Red or who has long studied the intersection of politics and Blue Companies More Likely to Go Green? Politics finance, isn’t ruling it out. and Corporate Social Responsibility.” Among other “Our paper suggests that this is more permanent findings: Changes in firms’ CSR policies are nega- than ‘everyone is doing it so we’re doing it, too,’” he tively associated with future stock returns, changes in says. “If there is anything politics affects, it’s going to ownership, and shifts in return on assets. be attitudes toward social responsibility.” s

42 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business GETTY IMAGES Research Highlights researchNikolov_130828.pdf 1 8/28/13 1:41 PM

Cash Holdings and Intensity of Competition From 1980 through 2007, the average cash holdings of companies increased while competition, as measured by excess price-cost margin, intensified. Cash Holdings Intensity of Competition 0.25 –0.05

–0.10

0.20 –0.15

–0.20 EPCM

CASH RATIO CASH 0.15 –0.25

–0.30

0.10 –0.35

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 SOURCE: Boris Nikolov Competition Drives Cash

Companies hold more cash than they used to. In the the economy is bad or unexpected things happen, early 1980s, 10 percent of a firm’s assets were invested they write. Liquidity needs range from sudden in- in Treasury bonds, cash accounts, and the like. These vestment opportunities to cash shortfalls. days, it’s more like 20 percent. During that time, “When external finance is costly, liquid funds pro- markets have become more deregu- vide corporations with instruments to absorb and lated, more global, and as a conse- react to negative shocks,” the authors write. A new model measures quence, more competitive. In a competitive market, firms’ profitability is the effects of competition How much cash is just enough? lower and they are more likely to face operating What caused this trend in cash hold- losses. So to deal with potentially more frequent and on cash holdings and ings over time? Does the competitive larger operating losses, a company operating in such financing decisions. environment in which firms operate an environment responds optimally by hoarding play a role? higher cash reserves, Nikolov says. SALLY PARKER In “Competition, Cash Holdings, The alternatives are much more expensive, he and Financing Decisions,” Simon As- notes. Competition can spur firms to raise more sistant Professor Boris Nikolov and co-authors Er- from outside investors and to access capital markets wan Morellec and Francesca Zucchi build a model more often. that provides a framework to figure out the benefits The model shows that competition increases the and costs of holding cash and to test predictions gen- frequency with which firms will tap external financial erated by the model to help answer these questions. markets to raise funds, as well as the amount raised. Competition drives cash. The authors measure In the absence of financial limits, competition has no in particular the effects of competition on bearing on a firm’s cash holdings or financing policy. firms’ cash holdings and financ- “Competition will only affect ing decisions amid financial firms with large costs of access constraints. Furthermore, as to external capital markets,” product market competition Nikolov says. “External capital heats up and financial pressures markets are costly to access. If grow more severe, firms’ cash you use cash, you avoid pay- holdings increase. ing the high external financing The data reveal strong sup- costs. port for the authors’ predic- “When external financing tions. Cash can fund projects is unavailable, investment or when the economy is good— survival may depend on a firm’s and cover operating losses if cash holdings.” s

ISTOCKPHOTO Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 43 A new way to get Simon Business

You can also find us online at www.simon.rochester.edu/simonbusiness

sb_app_ad_fall13.indd 1 8/27/13 4:01 PM A new way to get Simon Business

You can also find us online at www.simon.rochester.edu/simonbusiness

sb_app_ad_fall13.indd 1 8/27/13 4:01 PM Alumni Leaders

Scott Thomas ’92S (MBA) Vice President of Consumer Marketing, The Cartoon Network

BY JOY UNDERHILL Scott Thomas looks like he has fun at work. His of- and the marriage of my MBA and bio background fice features a slew of kids’ toys and cartoons play- was a natural fit,” Thomas notes. He spent six years ing on a nearby TV all day. But as Vice President of there, eventually managing the Ray Ban Rx brand. Consumer Marketing at Cartoon Network, it only He then moved to Coca-Cola, where he served as a makes sense that he’d surround himself with what he Senior Manager of National Consumer Promotions helps sell. for youth-focused products. The Cartoon Network is a global kids and family After working at a couple of small firms, Thomas entertainment network within Turner Broadcast- became the Brand/Advertising Director at Earthlink, ing System, Inc. “My team develops brand position- a telecommunications company. In 2007, he started ing and overall marketing plans to make kids aware at GameTap, a Turner Broadcasting entity that de- veloped an online gaming service. That job was the springboard to his current position at Cartoon Network. Thomas chose Simon for its broad, balanced approach to mar- keting, and it gave him the tools he needs to support the dynam- ics of his job. “Especially as we see TV and the Internet merg- ing, marketers need a way to analyze all the data we can now collect. Marketing is art as much as science, so we need to make qualitative judgments based on quantitative data.” Thomas was named 2013 Man of the Year by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) in Georgia, raising more than $100,000 during a 10-week fund- raising campaign, a Georgia state record for this annual campaign. His involvement in the organi- Named Man of the of new and existing shows, with the ultimate goal of zation is personal: in 2008, Thomas’ mother devel- Year by the Leuke- getting them interested enough so they will tune in,” oped lymphoma, and three years ago, he himself was mia & Lymphoma Thomas says. “We’re focused on building franchises diagnosed with a life-threatening blood disorder. Society in Georgia, so that we can also market merchandise associated Both mother and son received the same expensive Scott Thomas with our shows.” immunotherapy that saved their lives. The drug was understands the But Thomas hasn’t always been in the entertain- developed with the help of LLS funds. value of a reward- ment business. After earning his undergraduate de- “After benefiting from breakthrough research, it ing career and giv- gree in Biology from Hobart College, he worked as a was the least I could do to help raise money for fu- ing back. sales rep at Merck, Sharp & Dohme, where he gained ture efforts,” Thomas says. “Especially in medicine, his first exposure to the marketing side of busi- where it really does take a village to heal a person.” ness. His interest grew, and he decided to pursue his Thomas likes hiking, snowboarding, and relaxing MBA in Marketing and Economics at Simon to gain in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just 90 minutes from needed skills. his home. He also draws on his science background “When I graduated from Simon in ’92, Bausch + as a member of Fernbank Museum of Natural His- Lomb was expanding its retail consumer products, tory’s Community Leadership Board in Atlanta. s

46 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business DAVID S. HOLLOWAY/CARTOON NETWORK Alumni Leaders

Carol Lustenader ’82S (MBA) CFO Consultant, Controller at The Asia Foundation

BY JOY UNDERHILL In a career spanning 30 years, Carol Lustenader has The Simon School and her 10 years with Xerox firms gone full circle. She began in the nonprofit world gave Lustenader the training and many of the profes- with the American Cancer Society, then spent the sional connections she would use throughout her lion’s share of her time working in the fast-chang- work life. ing world of Silicon Valley startups. Now she’s back From Xerox, Lustenader led turnarounds, negoti- again to serve as Controller of The Asia Foundation, ated acquisitions, initiated IPOs, and increased valu- a nonprofit development organization dedicated ations for industries as diverse as enterprise software, to improving lives across Asia. Through her many semiconductor equipment, telecommunications, and transitions, she has continually brought forward les- vaccine development. Seeking broader connections sons that enhanced and deepened her professional to the business community, she became a CFO con- networks. sultant with a national CFO consulting firm, and then Lustenader’s first love was music, but she also formed her own firm, which serves a range of entre- wanted financial stability. After earning her un- preneurial, banking, and technology companies. dergraduate degree in liberal arts, she realized she These ties would prove instrumental in pulling needed more finance courses to develop the knowl- Lustenader into new and exciting companies that edge base for her interests, namely corporate finance, needed her broad leadership skills. Recently, she has marketing, and accounting. That’s when she chose applied her financial planning and analysis and ac- the Simon School, based in part on its reputation for counting skills to benefit high-tech startups such as a green technology, an energy efficiency company, a Web-based application company in the interna- tional relocation space, and a mobile device-based customer relationship management and accounting system. “Not all of the startups I worked with were suc- cessful,” Lustenader explains, “but all of them were From Silicon Val- great experiences. The biggest challenge in work- ley startups to ing with startups is keeping a positive attitude and financial planning learning from experiences rather than identifying too for green technol- closely with outcomes.” ogy companies Lustenader sees lots of opportunity in emerging and beyond, Carol technologies and global concerns for those interested Lustenader follows in entrepreneurship. She advises anyone starting out her passion for to anticipate having a lot of questions about how to making the world a nurture a corporate culture, how business processes better place. work, and generally understanding the complex cloth that makes up any company. “I can’t say enough about the Finance and Market- ing professors at Simon, most notably Cliff Smith and Ron Yeaple,” she says. “I continue to use what I learned about corporate finance theory and the focus on the customer: looking at a business situation, see- quantitative analysis. “It also helped that I was inter- ing the objective, coming up with a theoretical an- ested in a guy from Rochester, whom I would later swer, and then working to reach a solution.” marry,” she says. In recent years, Lustenader has reconnected with “I began with Xerox and its various West Coast her musical past. She performs with a choral group subsidiaries,” Lustenader notes, “always learning that raises funds for nonprofits and plays French horn along the way. I was fortunate to get into rotations in workshops sponsored by the San Francisco Sym- where I learned how all parts of a large organization phony. She also keeps in shape by running, rowing work, from marketing to sales to manufacturing.” on the bay, and swimming several times a week. s

BRIAN MAHANY Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 47 Alumni Leaders

Michael Cirami ’03S (MBA) CFA and Portfolio Manager at Eaton Vance

BY JOY UNDERHILL Michael Cirami joined Eaton Vance 10 years ago af- Lebanon, Armenia, and Georgia,” he says. “It’s fas- ter receiving his degree from Simon. As their newly cinating to see the political changes taking place named Co-Director of the $17.5 billion Global Fixed in the Middle East and the stresses it is placing on Income Group, Cirami is now a student of the world. their economies.” Cirami often combines work and He says in order to make sound investment decisions, pleasure in his travels and, when possible, seeks new he must learn about the geopolitical and macroeco- places to indulge his love of snowboarding. nomic conditions in his business area. Cirami sees huge potential for growth in interna- “My job is to understand countries,” Cirami notes, tional investing. “As clients are seeking more flex- “especially in my focus regions, which include Cen- ibility, rather than closely following benchmarks to tral and Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle manage their portfolios, we’re seeing more investing outside the United States,” he says. “There’s an increas- ing demand for managers who specialize in finding global investments, like those at Eaton Vance.” Cirami encourages younger people to be loyal to what truly interests them if they want to work in the investment industry. “If you love semiconductors, there’s room for semiconductor analysts. I just happen to enjoy economics and poli- tics, which is why I do what I do.” Professor Cliff Smith was a favorite of Cirami’s while he studied at Simon. “[He] was a passionate instructor and very knowledgeable,” Cirami says. “In one lecture, Professor Smith admon- Michael Cirami East.” Although he learned many of the financial ished us not to speculate in currencies. I remem- uses the analytical tools he uses today at the Simon School, it is his ber him saying that he wasn’t smart enough to do it, skills he learned at judgment of the value of assets that sets him apart. Nobel Prize winners weren’t smart enough, and as Simon and his own Because international markets are so diverse, students, we certainly weren’t smart enough. Years sound judgment to Cirami treats each case differently. Sometimes he later, I ran into Professor Smith and told him how I find success in to- begins by imagining the tail end of negative events, was speculating in currencies. He reminded me that day’s international asking what might happen under certain scenarios the discussion was more about speculation by cor- markets. and the probability of those things taking place. “I porate finance managers, who should concentrate on deal a lot in bonds, and because each region is so dif- running a business.” ferent, I can’t rely solely on models or fit data neatly Cirami chose Simon for the quality of its Finance into black boxes,” he says. “I rely on my judgment to program and its free-market approach to economics. make good investment decisions.” He credits his time there as a career-maker. “Simon In his work, Cirami has traveled across Europe, offers a great platform, with its rigorous curriculum to a few dozen countries in the Middle East, and and open learning environment, which helped get to Africa. “I just came back from a trip to Jordan, my career on the right path,” he says. s

48 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business MATT MCKEE In Memoriam

Peter Waasdorp: A Mentor Remembered

For many Simon students, Executive Professor Peter program continues today, offering students hands-on Waasdorp ’62, ’69S (MS) was more than an instruc- business experience in real world settings. tor in a classroom. His 25-year career in market- While at Xerox, Waasdorp held positions in busi- ing at Xerox and initial stewardship of the ness and product planning; new product develop- School’s Vision program and Entrepreneur- ment and marketing, in particular, the color printer; ship concentration made him a mentor and and customer satisfaction management. He also role model for countless graduates. Professor served on the Xerox Malcolm Baldrige National Waasdorp passed away on May 18. He was 71. Quality Award Team, which Xerox won in 1989. “He was a dedicated champion of entre- Waasdorp grew up in Brighton, a suburb just out- preneurship,” says Ronald Hansen, Senior side Rochester, and was a graduate of the University Associate Dean for Program Development, of Rochester and the Simon School. Throughout William H. Meckling Professor of Business his life, he was a strong supporter of the Univer- Administration, and Director of the Bradley sity and the city he called home. When not inspir- Policy Research Center. According to Han- ing his students at Simon, Waasdorp also served sen, Waasdorp worked to develop the Simon as Elder at Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, School’s first concentration in Entrepre- Board Chair for Rochester Philharmonic Orches- Professor Waas- neurship, which would later see significant growth tra, Chair of Strong Children’s Fund, Trustee for Mt. dorp’s 25-year and benefit from his strong partnership with retired Hope Family Center, and member of the Rochester career and shrewd Simon Professor James N. Doyle Sr. Bonsai Society. business sense “Peter had a way of conducting himself that Professor Waasdorp is survived by his wife, Nancy led him to build people respected,” says Hansen. “His business acu- Didget Waasdorp, three children, two stepchildren, Simon’s Entrepre- men and career success were an example to students, and 10 grandchildren. Simon salutes this remarkable neurship program and they found great value in what he brought to man and thanks him for his leadership, vision, and with James Doyle. the classroom and the Vision program.” The Vision dedication to our School. s

JOHN SMILLIE Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 49 Class Notes

BAY AREA Alumni gather ❶ on April 4 for a Simon Night Out in Mountain View, CA.

NEW YORK CITY Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev ’98S (MBA) enjoys breakfast with other Simon alumni on April 10 at 1975 LLS mission to cure the Waldorf Astoria. ■■Kevin Feeney has re- leukemia, lymphoma, turned to the Southern and Hodgkin’s disease, Connecticut State Uni- and improve the quality versity School of Busi- of life of patients and ness in New Haven, CT, their families. Scott is as an Associate Profes- Vice President of Con- sor of Accounting. sumer Marketing at The NEW YORK CITY Students Cartoon Network. enjoy a reception following 1991 the May 8 Executive ■■Martin Mucci was hon- 1995 Advisory Committee ored at the Black Tie ■■Edward G. Mitzen sold meeting. Pictured left Gala on the last night his first advertising to right: Evan Aloe ’13S of the Frank Sinatra agency in 2006 to a (MBA), Gleason Fellow Phil Starkey Technologies public firm and founded Meyers ’13S (MBA), and Celebrity Invitational in Fingerpaint in 2008. Simon Leadership Fellow February 2013, for his Fingerpaint is a full ser- Ankit Kumar ’13S (MBA). business and civic lead- vice advertising agency ership and his generous located in the heart of support of the Barbara Saratoga Springs, NY, Sinatra Children’s Cen- with 70 employees and ter. Martin is President $14 million in annual and Chief Executive Of- revenue. ficer at Paychex Inc. in ❶❶ Maria Molero is now Rochester, NY. Owner and Marketing Director at Inversiones 1992 Sourcing Global. Her ■■Scott A. Thomas was husband, José Troconis named the winner of ’95S (MBA), is Presi- The Leukemia & Lym- dent and Managing phoma Society’s (LLS) Director with Toyota Man of the Year cam- Financial Services paign on June 8, 2013, (Venezuela). They have in Atlanta, GA. Scott two children, Alejan- raised $103,482 during dro, 12, and Andres, 5. the campaign. Money ■■Tomoyuki Ohno has DALLAS Area alumni attend an evening with Mark Zupan on April 15. The event was held raised will advance the relocated to Tokyo, at the home of Amit Walia ’89S (MBA) and Vineeta Salvi.

50 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business Japan, with his wife, ❷ Noriko, and sons, Taka, 11, and Hiro, 3. Tomo is General Manager of the business development department, petroleum business division at Mitsui & Co. Ltd.

1997 ➋➋ David T. Lanzillo was named an ExecRank “Top Communication ■■Sean R. Murtagh re- Executive,” a distinc- ceived orders to be ROCHESTER The annual Toast to Our Graduates event welcomed the Class of 2013 to the tion reserved for fewer the new Sector Com- Simon alumni community. Pictured are this year's Dean's Leadership Award winners. than two percent of US mander and Captain of public company com- the Port of US Coast munications executives. Guard Sector North ROCHESTER Chairman of David is Senior Vice Carolina in Wilming- the University of Rochester President of Corporate ton, NC, as of July 2013. Board of Trustees Edmund Communications at Sector NC is one of the Hajim ’58 presents "The First Niagara Financial Coast Guard’s major 4 P's: How to Make a Life Group. shore commands in Plan" to Simon students on charge of overseeing all May 14. 2003 maritime operations. ■■Rodrigo Neves Berretta ■■Brent J. Ring is now has joined Aker Solu- Vice President of Busi- tions in Rio de Janeiro, ness Intelligence at SEOUL Members of the Brazil, as Vice Presi- Prudential Financial in Korea Alumni association dent of Business De- Roseland, NJ. gather for a special velopment for drilling ■■Nihar Shah, after networking event. Pictured technologies. working in the United left to right: Kevin Weekly, ■■José P. Chan gradu- States for four years, Jae Gwang Soh ’98S ated in June 2013 from has established his own (MBA), Andrew Nam ’95S the Sloan Fellows Pro- manufacturing SME, (MBA), and Changyeon Yoo gram in Innovation and Silver Bright, in India, ’09S (MBA). Global Leadership at where he lives with his Massachusetts Insti- wife, Manasi, and two tute of Technology with daughters, Sanjana, 8, an SM Management and Saloni, 4. of Technology. He has ❸❸ Alex Sukhoy has pub- now joined a startup lished her third book, company with three The ’90s: Diary of a MIT professors, spe- cializing in retail data analytics. ■■Marc L. Leavitt ac- cepted a new position as a Portfolio Manager at Texas Permanent School Fund in Aus- tin, TX, where he lives ATLANTA Simon alumni enjoy a Braves vs. Bluejays game at the Simon Takes You Out to with his wife and four ❸ the Ballgame event on May 29. Toronto won the game but our Atlanta alums still had fun! children.

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 51 Class Notes

Mess, a collection of po- Share Your News etry, photography, and To submit a class note, e-mail musings (available on the Simon Advancement Amazon.com). Alex is a office at alumni@simon. rochester.edu, or to your Class writer and marketer at Correspondent below. Creative Cadence LLC. CLASS OF 1981 ■■Randal Weaver has David Meister taken a new position [email protected] CLASS OF 1982 as President and Chief Sameer Shah Operating Officer at [email protected] TransPro Consulting in CLASS OF 1983 Ellen Curry Stevens Tampa, FL. [email protected] ■■Tony Liang Zhang is PORTLAND Alumni Council Co-Chair Sean Flaherty ’97, ’06S (MBA) hosts a Simon CLASS OF 1988 now General Manager Night Out on June 27. Alums gathered to connect, network, and share some laughs. Jeff Durbin [email protected] of the Beijing branch CLASS OF 1992 and head of the finan- Eric Suitos NEW YORK CITY Students and alumni cial institutions group [email protected] attend the annual summer happy CLASS OF 1995 for North Asia at Com- hour on July 23. The event was held Hakan Akbas monwealth Bank of [email protected] at the Frying Pan. The Frying Pan is Australia in Beijing, Philipos Minaidis an historic lightship turned bar and [email protected] China. Nikolaos Veraros restaurant docked at Pier 66. [email protected] 2004 CLASS OF 1996 Aditya Kapoor ■■Hiroto Ooka has joined [email protected] Kobo Inc. in Toronto, CLASS OF 1998 ON, as Executive Vice Geoff Laughlin CLEVELAND Dean Mark Zupan [email protected] President and Corpo- (third from left) joins area alumni on CLASS OF 2000 rate Planning Officer, Jennifer Henion July 19 for a Simon Night Out at the in addition to serving [email protected] Ritz-Carlton. CLASS OF 2001 as Executive Officer for Bob Tracy Rakuten Inc. in Tokyo, [email protected] Japan. CLASS OF 2003 Tamara Arbesman-Gold ■■Jan Svec is now Vice [email protected] President of Project CLASS OF 2004 Finance and Banking Karen Sweet [email protected] for the Irvine Company, CLASS OF 2005 a large, privately held Rameet Kohli commercial and resi- [email protected] Seiichiro Takahashi dential real estate com- [email protected] pany based in Newport CLASS OF 2006 Chris Johnston Beach, CA. [email protected] NEW YORK CITY New CLASS OF 2008 2005 York Times Executive Chris Adams Eugene Hsu Vice President, Print [email protected] ■■ joined Christine Stoelting GameHouse (a division Products Roland [email protected] of Real Networks) in Caputo ’84S (MBA) CLASS OF 2009 speaks to area alumni Lynne Amerson Seattle, WA, as a Senior [email protected] Marketing Manager. and students on CLASS OF 2011 January 17. Stephen MacLean stephen.maclean@simon. 2009 rochester.edu ■■Brian Annechino joined Don’t see your class represented Rochester-based start- here? Interested in becoming a Class Correspondent? Contact us up company iVEDiX at [email protected] Inc. two years ago, to learn more.

52 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business specializing in business 2011 intelligence services ■■Edgard D. Duque ac- and was recently made cepted a position as a part of the management Project Manager at Au- team as Director of rion Aviation Advisors, Sales and Partnerships focused on aviation (Middle East). consulting, training, ■■John F. Gleason re- and delivering stra- located to take a new tegic knowledge and position as a Senior As- operational excellence. sociate at Grant Thorn- Edgard is based in ton LLP in Boston, Manama, Kingdom of MA. Bahrain, and is working ■■Amit Kooner accepted with the Kingdom of a new position as an As- Saudi Arabia. ROCHESTER A special Simon Night Out brought students and alumni to the Memorial Art sociate Director at Digi- ■■Zachary F. Fuller is now Gallery on February 28. Eboni-Starr Floyd ’13S (MBA) organized the event. tas in New York City. Executive Director at ■■Makar Naguib was pro- Eagle Star Housing Inc. ATLANTA Alumni moted to Vice Presi- in Pittsford, NY. partner with the Atlanta dent of Global Legal ■■Chunyi Li was pro- Community Food Bank Entity Management at moted to Vice Presi- for a day of volunteering Citi in New York City. dent, working as a at a community garden ■■Jay Rajda transitioned quantitative strategist that provides over 4,000 to a new position in for Citigroup, Citi Trea- pounds of fresh produce July 2013, as Medical sury Investment, FX & to local neighborhoods. Director for Innova- International Markets tion at Aetna in New in New York City. York City. Jay is leading ■■Vivek Mittal is now enterprise-wide efforts Energy Segment Global to bring cutting-edge Product Manager at ATLANTA Professor Cliff innovation in health Actuant Corporation in Smith presents his Top care to the organization Houston, TX. 10 Concerns for 2013 and integrating it. ❹❹ Manisha Pawar has at the Ravinia Club on ■■Revay Wilson joined joined The Lab Con- February 18. The event Ventura Foods in Brea, sulting Partnership in was hosted by National CA, as a Senior Brand Houston, TX, as a Man- Council member Dan Manager in June 2013. agement Consultant. Lazarek ’91S (MBA). ❹

MUMBAI Janice Willett ’78S (MBA) serves as moderator at the Distinguished Alumni Panel Discussion on March 7. Panelists include Sanjay Kapoor ’91S (MBA), Ashish Malik ’94S (MBA), and Aditya Narain.

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 53 Mergers & Acquisitions

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2003 of Academic Affairs ■■Kelly Stone Geer and 2004 arrival of twins, Natalia ❶❶ Cristian Abbott and at Columbia Busi- her husband, Chris, ■■Gilad Biegacz married and Lucia, born April his wife, Paula Cerda, ness School. She welcomed the arrival Susan Goldberg on Feb- 2, 2013. Edgard is Mar- welcomed the arrival and her family live in of their first child, Mav- ruary 23, 2013, at Mari- ket Access Manager at of Maria Jesus Abbott, Scarsdale, NY. erick James Geer, born time Parc in Jersey City, Janssen-Cilag ( J&J). born June 30, 2012. ➌➌ Elizabeth Busch February 21, 2013. Kelly NJ. Simon alumni in at- He and his family live in Maria joins Agustin, and her husband, is Senior Director of tendance included Adam Madrid, Spain. 11, Josefina, 9, Adelita, Christopher Busch ’03S Marketing at Hasbro Glatt ’04S (MBA) and ❻❻ Debra S. Maddow and 7, and Florencia, (MBA), Cargo Division Inc. She and her family best man James Tsantes her husband, Charles, 4. Cristian is Chief Manager for United live in Providence, RI. ’04S (MBA). Gilad is Visiting Associate Pro- Commercial Officer at Airlines, welcomed the ❹❹ Gloria Yang Kinney Product Management fessor of Emergency Pronto Copec. arrival of Liam Edward and her husband, Abe Director at Citigroup in Medicine at the Uni- ➋➋ Tamara R. Arbesman- Busch, born February Kinney, welcomed the Long Island City, NY. versity of Texas Medi- Gold and her husband, 24, 2013. Liam joins arrival of Josephine Mia Susan is Associate Vice cal School at Houston, Adam, welcomed the older brother Cian Kinney, born on April President of Public Re- welcomed the arrival arrival of their sec- William Busch, 3. 17, 2013. Josephine lations at Tractenberg of Ethan Sheran Mad- ond son, Dylan Eli Elizabeth is Senior joins Alexis Jia Kinney, and Co. They live in dow, born May 17, 2013. Gold, born August Operations Manager 2. Gloria works in New York City. Ethan joins 8-year-old 8, 2012. Dylan joins at GE Capital. She product marketing at ❺❺ Edgard R. D’Angelo cat Madeline, who fol- older brother Noah, and her family live in iDirect. The Kinneys and his wife, Marianne lows them around the 2. Tamara is Director Elmhurst, IL. live in Vienna, VA. Haupt, welcomed the house and has taken

54 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business ❼ ❽ ❿

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over the baby’s fleece risk) at Discover Home Mario is a Project Man- welcomed the arrival and her family live in blanket, toy basket, and Loans—Discover Fi- ager at Nordion. He and of Arjun Veer Singh, Brampton, ON. play mat. Deb and her nancial Services. The his family live in Ot- born November 16, ⓬⓬ Lynne C. Amerson family live in Missouri Mendoza family lives in tawa, ON. 2012. Aditya is Assistant and husband Matt City, TX. Mundelein, IL. Director of Enterprise welcomed their first ❼❼ Philip M. Mastil and 2006 Risk Management at child, Beatrice Cath- his wife, Danielle, wel- 2005 ■■Nehal S. Chokshi and Moody’s Analytics in erine Amerson, born comed the arrival of Al- ❾❾ Naomi (Cohen) Cody his wife, Hoan Lieu, New York City. June 14, 2013. Lynne exander Michael Mastil, and her husband, Bill, welcomed their first is a Portfolio Manager born May 6, 2013. welcomed their daugh- child, Dean Chokshi, 2009 at First Western Trust. Philip is Vice President ter, Madeleine Laila born October 21, 2012. ■■Shama M. Ahmed and She and her family live at Valuation Research Cody, born January 10, Nehal is the Founder Iftekhar Hossain were in Denver, CO. Corporation in New 2013. Naomi is a Senior and Chief Executive married August 4, ⓭⓭ David H. Craft and his York City. Brand Manager at Uni- Officer of Technology 2009, in Dhaka, Bangla- wife, Emily, welcomed ❽❽ Nina (Qualls) Mendoza lever. The Cody family Insights Research. He desh. They welcomed their first child, son, and her husband, Is- live in Jersey City, NJ. and his family live in their daughter, Ifrah Cameron Clark Craft, mael, welcomed Blake ❿❿ Mario Luna and his Brooklyn, NY. Mehek Hossain, born born May 29, 2013. Da- AntonioJames Men- wife, Nelly Gonzalez, January 11, 2011. Shama vid is an Assistant Vice doza, born June 19, welcomed the arrival 2008 is a Senior Operation President at Citi. He 2010. Nina is a Project of their daughter, Sofia, ⓫⓫ Aditya V. Singh and Service Officer at TD and his family live in Manager (operational born January 4, 2013. his wife, Bhumika, Financial Group. She Rochester, NY.

Simon Business ◾ Fall 2013 55 Mergers & Acquisitions

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⓮⓮ Adam Echter and Ljubljana, Slovenia. 2010 Dulles, VA. Shabana is a December 2012, in his wife, Ingrid, wel- ■■Amanda S. Mari and ⓰⓰ Erin N. Barry and software engineer. They India. Nishant is a comed the arrival of her husband, Sean, her husband, Keenan, live in Reston, VA. Senior in Valuation and their daughter, Ellie welcomed the arrival welcomed the arrival of ⓱⓱ Paola Realpozo and Business Modeling at Katherine Echter, born of their son, Parker their son, Lucas James her husband, Gregory Ernst & Young LLP. February 7, 2013. Adam Sean Mari, born April Barry, born April 23, Fogarty ’13S (MBA), Bindu is a Senior is a Director at Simon- 29, 2013. Amanda is 2013. Erin is Associate Vice President of Sales Strategic Consultant at Kucher & Partners. He Finance Manager at Director of Regional and Marketing at Rail- Epsilon (ADS). They and his family live in Carestream Health Inc. Administration at the Comm, welcomed the live in Jersey City, NJ. San Francisco, CA. She and her family live University of Roches- arrival of their son, ⓲⓲ Peter M. Pirro and his ■■Martin Gosenca mar- in Pittsford, NY. ter Medical Center. She Jack Patrick Fogarty, wife, Bridgette Lynn ried Simona in Feb- ⓯⓯ Aymen Saeed and and her family live in born February 26, Pirro, welcomed the ruary 2013 in the her husband, Abid Webster, NY. 2013. Paola is Director arrival of Paxton Carl Mauritius Islands in the Zaim, welcomed the ■■Ainul Huda married of Product Engineer- Pirro, born November Indian Ocean. Martin arrival of their son, Shabana Nazim on De- ing at RailComm. She 5, 2011. Paxton joins is Head of Sales for the Farhad Ahmed Zaim, cember 15, 2012, in Gu- and her family live in Cooper Arthur Pirro, ex-Yugoslavia region born January 26, 2013. wahati, Assam, India. Fairport, NY. 4. Peter is a Project and Country Manager Aymen is a Senior Ainul is Senior Manager Manager at Eagle for Serbia at the Slove- Financial Analyst at of Audience Develop- 2011 Productivity Solutions. nian lingerie company DBRS Inc. in New ment and Financial ■■Nishant Gupta married LISCA. They live in York City. Analysis at AOL in Bindu Kambala in

56 Fall 2013 ◾ Simon Business