Senate Street

Free 411

2007-08-10T11:16:00.000-05:00

Google has come out with a free 411 service. Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411). Tell the computer your location and service you need. They will connect you for free to the number and text you the number if you wish.

If you can text from your phone, you can also use text messages to get information from Google. Type in a simple query like "mcdonalds 27703" and sent it to GOOGL (46645). Google will send you a message back with local matches. But please, don't limit your self....you can also check on flight status (text them "flight aa 2111")... current stock prices (text them "stock tgt")...or change from American to metric units (text them "1 us pint in liters"). For a complete list of services go to the Google SMS home page.

This service is still in the experimental phase, so use it while it is still free!

Post MBA Salary

2007-08-09T15:50:00.000-05:00

I won't go into any great detail, but I have made a spreadsheet with a guess of how much people will make after an MBA. Surprisingly, the two strongest factors I found are GMAT and pre-MBA salary.

To use:
You have to have a Google Account....
1. Click here. (opens a new window)
2. On the right hand side click File->Copy Spreadsheet...
3. Give it a name.
4. Put your data in the grey areas.

This is purely a guess!

To calculate your post-MBA salary you can also use MBA360. I have no idea if they are trust worthy or not, but their number ended close to my in a few examples. Keep in mind they say "total package" meaning bonus and everything. My calculation is base salary. They also let you calculate your return on investment.

Facebook Song

2007-08-08T09:49:00.000-05:00

Without the internet, how did people keep up with friends?

Back five years ago I joined Friendster because I knew alot of people who used it. Now, nobody uses it. Completely useless, like scented toiletpaper.

My inbox is filling up with invites to Facebook, MySpace and LinkIn. I was hurt once and just don't want it to happen again.

With that said, I found this song by Rhett and Link some local North Carolina boys. This comedic duo grew up about 30 minutes south of my home town and graduated from North Carolina State University with engineering degrees. Go to their web site to see them crash Grammy's....

More Earthquakes

2007-08-08T09:31:00.000-05:00

Santiago has been rocking and rolling this morning. There have been at least 3 separate tremors this morning. So if you see it in the news, no big deal and everything is alright.

UPDATE: Only a 5.0 of the coast at Valparaiso.

Haciendo Negocios en México y América Latina

2007-08-07T11:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry to my English readers....I have put this here in the hopes to add to the discusion of cutlural differences between the US and Latin America. I wrote this paper at the end of my time in Mexico.

Creciendo en un pueblo pequeño en Carolina del Norte, uno puede preguntar mi necesidad de aprender la cultura de América latina. La verdad es América latina ha afectado ya mi vida. Por ejemplo, el novio de mi hermana es mexicano y mi tía y tío adoptivos son de Colombia. Español e inglés se habla a cena de día de acción de gracias de mi familia. He tenido un jefe de Puerto Rico. No estoy solo. Esta colisión no está sin problemas y confusión. Ahora comienzo una profesión en negocio internacional, entender diferencias culturales es muy importante. Este papel explora lo que aprendí en mi "Haciendo Negocios en México y América Latina" clase y cómo la aplicaré en el futuro. Porque soy de EE.UU., compararé la cultura de los EE.UU. a la cultura americana latina.

Me interesan las diferencias históricas entre los Estados Unidos y América latina. El pasado es la llave al futuro. Los países conquistadores transfirieron muchas de su idea al mundo nuevo. La mayoría de América latina fue colocada por España o Portugal. El EE.UU. fue colocado por Gran Bretaña. También, las civilizaciones que existieron antes de que Colon afecte la cultura hoy. La gente indígena que vivió en central y Suramérica era más avanzada que ésos en Norteamérica. Con enfermedad y guerra, devastaron a la población indígena en Norteamérica. Por lo tanto, Inglaterra permitida la gente de todo el religioso y nacionalidades se traslada a sus colonias. España solamente necesitaba cambiar a los líderes nativos, enviaron solamente a gente católica leal a la corona. El inglés creó un país que desea el gobierno descentralizado debido a sus culturas diversas. El español creó países con el gobierno central opresivos con cultural son agresivos pasivo.

Las religiones viejas efectúan el mundo nuevo. La gente que colocó los Estados Unidos era de los grupos religiosos pequeños que huían la persecución en Europa. Estos grupos eran pequeños y no necesitaron control central. En América latina, la iglesia católica se convirtió en la religión única autorizada. La iglesia católica había establecido 1500 años de respecto de la jerarquía. Durante este tiempo, los católicos utilizaron unos intermedios como santos o sacerdote para comunicarse con el dios. Los protestantes en este tiempo creyeron que solamente un individuo puede pedir a dios perdón. Pienso que es significativo que un sacerdote católico declaró la independencia de México. Creo que estas diferencias causaron diferencias de la poder distancia en cada cultural.

La historia creó la otra diferencia entre los EE.UU. y la América Latina. En los EE.UU., la sensación del individualismo es extrema. En otras partes del mundo, incluyendo América latina, el grupo es más importante que el individuo. Además, los estadounidenses toman más riesgo que los americanos latinos. Puesto que los americanos latinos son más grupo orientado, son probables demostrar favoritismo a la gente en “in-group”. También, los americanos latinos les gusta construir relaciones y estadounidenses les gusta foco en negocio. Si hago negocio en América latina, necesitaré recordar estas diferencias.

Planeo trabajar en una empresa de capital después de acabar mi grado de IMBA. Entender la cultura de América mexicana y latina me ayudará en esta industria. Pues NAFTA y los FTAA (Si se asume que lo no es muerto) cambian la situación económica en Norteamérica, más oportunidades se presentarán para hacer negocio en América latina. Como lo descrito arriba, hay diferencia en cultura entre los EE.UU. y América latina. Entonces, para utilizar estas oportunidades, unas compañías necesitarán entender completamente la cultura latina o condénese a la fracaso.

Para invertir en América latina, debo entender cómo los repartos se negocian y se ejecutan allí. Como muchos americanos, prefiero terminar el trabajo primero y el palique más tarde. Para el americano latino, las relaciones son las más importantes. La primera reunión pudo ser ejercicio de la confianza. Mientras que esto pudo sentirse como una pérdida de tiempo, construir confianza es muy importante para un reparto del negocio. Perteneciendo a esta relación, es el mejor mirar a las negociaciones en la luz de “gana-gana.” El americano latino no le gusta de una actitud extremadamente competitiva. Un americano latino tiende para buscar los aumentos a corto plazo que pueden frustrar una opinión del largo plazo de un estadounidense. Un estadounidense que demostrar un alto nivel del respecto a otros partidos. También necesitan investigar los hechos del acuerdo. Ocasionalmente, un americano latino puede ofrecer más que él puede entregar. Tengo que recordar estas lecciones en cultura al buscar inversiones en América latina.

Incluso después del acuerdo, usted todavía se centra en cultura. Las relaciones construidas antes de que el reparto se deba mantener después del reparto. Al usar el teléfono, haga algunas preguntas personales antes de hablar de negocio. Estadounidense también necesita tener presente que el tiempo es diferente en mayores partes de América latina. El tiempo es dinero en los EE.UU..., pero hay siempre tiempo mañana en América latina. Pues la relación del negocio crece, hay unas veces en que la interacción con un gobierno de latino de americano latino será necesaria. Cada país como niveles que varían de la corrupción. Chile es el lo menos corrupto y Venezuela es la mayoría corrupta (según Transpancy International). Nunca pagando mordeduras y siempre pagando mordeduras ambos pudieron ser la respuesta incorrecta. Estadounidenses tiene que saber que los sobornos son alguna vez como propinas, pero el soborno grande pudo ser ilegal en los EE.UU. Se encuentran muchas cosas culturales al hacer negocio con una compañía de América latina.

Hay diferencia cultural entre los EE.UU. y América latina. Estas cosas son diferencias, no esa una cultura son mejores que otra. Mientras el cultural americano latino ha afectado ya mi vida, necesito aprender más. Estas últimas tres semanas me han ayudado a mejorar mi comprensión de mi cultura y de la cultura de América latina. Ésta puede ser mi ventaja competitiva en el mundo del negocio.

Map of Top MBA Programs

2007-07-26T17:36:00.000-05:00

The Moore School of Business jumped into the Wall Street Journal rankings this year at spot 49 nationally among regional schools. The Moore School had the honor to be #1 in international business among public universities. Click on the map to see a detailed list and map of the national and regional school that made the Journal's ranking.

Sites and Sound of Buenos Aires

2007-07-19T10:08:00.000-05:00

Buenos Aires

2007-07-19T08:22:00.000-05:00

This last weekend, Brendan and I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina for a four day weekend. The city flows with culture and an European attitude. Food and drinks are relatively cheap. My last night in BA I ate and drank $14 of beer and food. In the US this would have easily cost me $60. Inflation in Argentina over the last year was 14%. You can pay for nearly everything in US dollars and ATM give the option of pesos or dollars. While making the biggest government default in history does not help, I can't help to think that prices in Argentina are just normalizing to the rest of the world.

On a random side note: Globalisation at its best....finding the best priced airline ticket on an American travel site, on a Canadian airlines, while living in Chile to fly to Argentina.

The view from the Terrace on top of our hotel. We stayed at Gorriti 4290, a Bed and Breakfast in Buenos Aires. The B&B promised to be friendly, charming and affordable. It came through on all three. I highly recommend it!

Just a random BA street...

Another radmon shot...

This is a chapel converted into a design center. It is in between the Hard Rock Cafe and the La Recoleta Cemetery.

The grave of Evita in the La Recoleta Cemetery. I found it nearly impossible to stand in front it without humming "Don't cry for me Argentina..."

La Recoleta Cemetery is a place where rich families put their dead. The strange thing is there are old coffins in the open air everywhere. I am not sure if this grave was vandalized or just fell apart, but there is nothing protecting the coffin.

Dan infront of a modist grave at La Recoleta Cemetery.

Does anybody else see it? its a scorpion with a gun...just look...

BA has dogs everywhere. Dog walkers and dog parks everywhere too.

I am guessing BA does not have any rules about cleaning up after pets. Walking through the city requires a hopscotch game with dog crap.

Dan and Brendand with the owner of the Gorriti Hotel.

I ate a $7 steak dinner here with the B&B , his wife and fellow hotel residence.

Brendan in the hotel living room.

The dinning area in the hotel.

The B&B owner with Brendan and Dan.

Visit from Mom

2007-07-19T07:37:00.000-05:00

My mom and stepfather, Larry, came down to visit me in Santiago about two weeks ago. We rented a car for three days and drove all over central Chile. The first day we drove out to Vina de Mar and Valparaiso. The next day we went to Maipú, south of Santiago. We drove on dirt road for 45 minutes until we reach a huge and deep puddle in the road. I was unwilling to risk my rental car deposit on it. The last day we hunted down wineries in between Santiago and Vina de Mar.

The view from Mom and Larry's hotel room.

Another Jump picture but this time in Maipú.

More shoots from Maipú, Chile.

George, Mom and Brendan enjoying the Chilean wine.

The driveway coming into a winery between Santiago and Vina de Mar.

Larry, Mom and I in front of the Cerro Santa Lucia (the Hill of Sant Lucy).

Customize Google Maps

2007-07-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Organize your data into a excel spreadsheet. Separate data into the following columns: address, city, state (or country), title (for the popup) and text (the text will be put into the popup balloon.)
Go to the web site: http://www.batchgeocode.com/
The web site has easy steps. I won’t go into detail here.
At the end, click “Save Map as a web page.”

If you want to put the map into Google Maps, it is a bit harder. You also need a Google Docs account (which you have if you have gmail).

Do the steps above, but on step four download the KML file. Save this file to the desktop.
Open KML file with MS-Word. Go to the Replaice window (Edit->Replace…). Search for “^p” and replace with “”. In English, replace all the line returns with nothing. Click replace all. The ending document should be one long line.
Open a MS-Excel spreadsheet. Cut and paste the big long line created above into Cell A1. The entire line should be in A1 and no other. Save the spreadsheet on the desktop.
Go to Google Docs in your web browser. In the main menu, press Upload. Upload the spreadsheet you just created.
Open the newly created spreadsheet in Google Docs.
Press the “Publish Tab” on the right hand side of the screen.
Click “publish now.”
Check the box beside “Automatically re-publish when changes are made” and click “Republish now.”
Now press the “More Publishing options link.” A window will pop up.
In the new window set the file format to txt. In the “What Cells?” field type A1.
Press generate URL button. A URL will appear in that window. Copy that URL.
Now, go to maps.google.com. In the search field, paste the newly crated URL.
Press Search.
If all went correctly, Google Maps should populate with all your points. Keep in mind they cut you off after 65 points.

Another Earthquake

2007-07-11T10:17:00.000-05:00

We just had another earthquake in Chile.

I am going to call it now: 5.8 earthquake

The USGS has called it a 5.1. It was centered 65 miles north east of Santiago in Argentina.

I’m an American!

2007-07-10T09:22:00.000-05:00

"The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation."

- George Washington, 1796

Americans get used to being called different things by different people. Europeans call us Yankees, much to the angst of the southerns. In Mexico, we are called Gringos. British call us Yanks and Austrians playfully call us Seppos. Nonetheless, we call ourselves Americans.

Some people in other North and South America countries take offense to this name. The believe the US has hijacked the name of the continent and that everybody in the Americas has a right to call themselves Americans. Just another case of US arrogance. In Spanish, we are called estadounidense that translates into United Stater. I am not a fan of the name. Some times we are also called norteamericano or North American. That seems like a bad name too since both Mexico and Canada are also in North America.

I think there are some strong arguments for calling ourselves Americans. First, we are the only country in the world to contain the word “America” in its name. No confusion there. Second, Mexico official name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos. So estadounidense could also refer to them. Third, what other country uses it political format for its nationality. A person from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is British although we refer to the country as the UK. The “United States” is our political format, but American is our nationality.

If you must, blame the old guys who signed the Articles of Confederation in 1777, but I am an American!

International MBA Internships

2007-07-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

Click on the map to see more detail. Once on the Google Map page, click on each city to see how many student are currently there.

The Moore School's IMBA program is unique in several ways. First, it has a mandatory 16 week internship. Second, the majority of the internships are outside the US. The average student is over 3,800 miles from Columbia, SC.

Colo-Colo Wins

2007-07-03T16:46:00.000-05:00

Colo-colo won its third national championship this year. The season came down to the last game. Universidad Católica (yes, the university sponsors a professional team) was only one point behind in the standings. Colo-colo won the game and became three-peat national champions. And the craziness ensued.

Abishai, Ananda Kumar, and Dan in the Colo Colo trophy room before the game.

Dan...

The end zone is not the place to be during the game. Here we see a fan climbing the fence with a live flair.

After winning the national championship, the team too flairs around the field. This picture makes it look scarier that it real was.

My First Earthquake

2007-06-28T17:45:00.000-05:00

Today, Chile was hit by a 5.6 earthquake. It originated 118 miles north of Santiago. At first I thought that somebody was working on the building and thought the coworkers were kidding when they told me it was a "terremoto." Don't worry. No major damage here and I still had to finish my work day.

Upon a visit to Wikipedia, I found that the strongest earth quake in recorded history originated from Chile only 50 years ago. Of course, I learn about this after I am living here.....

Gringo Dancers

2007-06-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

Views of Santiago

2007-06-11T08:52:00.000-05:00

Click on the the photo to see it full sized...

Out apartment is near downtown Santiago. We are a 5 minute walk to the nearest Metro making the entire city convenient to us. Our building is at the center of this photo behind the red and green building.

Dan...

The view of the city from Cerro San Cristobal. The haze in the photo is smog.

As is usual in cities, Santiago has lots of spray painted tags. Many have a political bend and are mostly anti-US, anti-globalization or pro-revolution. In Mexico, there were many anti-Bush tags, but I have not seen many here in Santiago. Here we see an opinion to the cause of 9/11 painted on a sidewalk.

We went just outside Santiago for this picture. We are far from the pollution so the photos are better.

Dan, Brendan and Ernesto enjoying beer and the view.

The three housemates, Brendan, Dan and Anandha.

For Shame Nevada!

2007-06-07T08:33:00.000-05:00

How dare you steal Toughie University of Nevada, Reno! We will let you use the Wolf Pack name, but using our mascot takes it too far.

circa 198?	Trademark 1984
I have nothing to say to you Wisconsin...good day.

circa 1972	circa 1940

NC State and the UNR are talking about their blatant rip off of the NCSU's Toughie. Wisconsin fans remind us that Toughie looks like their mascot. But hey, ours is clearly a wolf and theirs is clearly a Badger. So what if they dress the same...

NCSU to Nevada Reno: Give us Toughie back

sobre me

2007-06-06T17:40:00.000-05:00

Soy estudiante en maestría en administración internacional de la escuela de Moore de la Universidad de Carolina del Sur (Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina). Este otoño, me concentraré en finanzas y empresas pequeñas . Después de la graduación, espero encontrar un trabajo en capital privado. Antes de comenzar el MBA programe, yo estudie informática en la Universidad del Estado de Carolina del Norte (North Carolina State University) y trabaje para unas empresas. Mi currículum vitae incluye Instituto de SAS, Accenture y Marina de Estados Unidos. Durante mi estudios y trabajos, yo he vivido fuera de E.E.U.U. por un total de 18 meses en Australia, Reino Unido, México y ahora Chile. En mi tiempo libre, yo tengo licencia de piloto particular y disfruto leyendo.

Dan and SKM Seaprende

2007-06-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

This was written for a paper due to Moore School. Sorry about the 3rd person talk but it give you a chance to see what I am doing here.

Dan will develop a business strategy for SKM Seaprende of Santiago, Chile. SKM provides knowledge management software to the Latin American market. Dan will assess all areas of the firm with a focus on marketing and technology. As the final product, Dan will create a strategy on how to take SKM from US$1 million in annual sales to US$10 million over 5 years.

Using US$100,000 in seed money, Max and Abishai founded SKM in 2000. By 2007, the firm reached $1 million in annual sales and had over 30 employees. SKM’s sells mainly to Chilean firms, but also has patrons in other Latin American countries. SKM’s products facilitate online course administration and SKM provides online classes too. The firm also has a novel format that allows drug companies to teach pharmacy sales people. This format turns into a “win-win” for both companies as this training leads to higher sales.

Like all companies, SKM always scans its situation. To this end, the owners hire interns each year from internationally recognized MBA programs. Interns bring fresh ideas and an objective eye to SKM.

Dan will work with Anandha, another Moore School intern. As a team, they will gather data, analyze current strategy and modify that strategy as needed. Each stage will require input from the owners, employees and clients. Many of these people only speak Spanish, so Spanish proficiency will be critical. The team will use other skills learned during the IMBA program like Porter’s four forces model, S.W.A.T. analysis and Gartner’s Hype Cycle. Due to his previous experience, SKM expects Dan to pay close attention to information technology during his internship.

Dan and Anandha will construct many documents for SKM. Deliverables will include financial analyses, marketing plans and client reports. Beyond written documents, the team will present their findings and the status of the project every Friday to the owners of SKM. The deliverables and presentations will culminate into a final ten-page strategy. SKM will use this roadmap strategy as it seeks to increase sales to US$10 million.

Riots

2007-05-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

Being four dumn gringos (yes Anandha, you are a gringo) there was things we did not know we need to prepare for when we went to Valparaiso on the coast of Chile. One, we had no clue that the congress building is in Valparaiso and not Santiago. It was moved there by a dictator in the 1980s. Second, we did not know that the president was going to address the congress that weekend. Protesters gather each year during the address and hold annual riots.

Not knowing these two key points, we go to Valparaiso for the long weekend. On Monday, we left the hostel to get reservations at the bus station. The bus station happens to be across the street from the national congress building. Police blocked our path to the bus station. The police did not tell us that the bus station was closed or that there was an area for us to avoid. In fact, the police pointed us into the area where the protesters had gathered. We turned the corner and found ourselves in between protesters and four bus loads of riot police. When I heard the police chanting on one bus to prepare for the upcoming battle, I chose not to take any up close photos.

Finding nearly every business in the area closed, we ducked into a crummy, dirty restaurant. We chocked down some cookies and watched the president give her speech. Protesters interrupted her speech twice inside the congress building. After her speech, the news showed footage of the riot that broke out in the spot we had been. We missed it by 15 minutes.

I learned a few lessons. First, Chile's congress building is in Valparaiso. Second, the police of Chile do not give the best directions. Last, tear gas makes me sneeze.

Birthday and Good old Johnnie

2007-05-18T21:21:00.001-05:00

I turned 21 in Australia and now I am turning 30 in Chile. The other IMBAs here in Santiago took me out for the big 3-0. First we went to a Thai restaurant called Etniko then went to a Merengue club. Then we finished a bottle of Johnnie Walker red label. A good way to say bye to my youth.

Click on picture to enlarge...

Exporting American Culture

2007-05-11T13:58:00.000-05:00

Oh, the things we send outside the USA. They do have great wings though...

Santiago

2007-05-02T08:50:00.000-05:00

Santiago, Chile May 1, 2007 -- In the last 48 hours, I have been in four countries, thought three immigration checks, crossed over the equator and traveled over 7,000 miles. This is just the start of my trip. I have 109 days before I return to Columbia, SC for fall classes.

So far, Santiago has made a good impression on me. The city has a European feel to it. In comparison to the last four months in Mexico, this culture seems more purposeful and organized. In Mexico, people knew I was a gringo from a mile away. Here, I have already had a few people mistake me for Chilean (although as soon as I open my mouth people know otherwise). The people here have been very open and nice. They are more open to talking politics, particularly Iraq and Bush.

In more than one way, it reminds me of my stay in Edinburgh, Scotland. First, I am living with two guys in a small apartment. Second, the weather is about the same as Scotland (cool and cloudy). Last, I live in the smack dab center of Santiago. I have a strange feeling that this will be a good city for me.

Today is Mayday, so everything is closed and people are walking the street the communist flags. Tomorrow, Anand and I start work at SKM. Brendan will start work with Amigos de Arte.

Last night in Guadalajara

2007-05-01T09:16:00.000-05:00

My last Michelada. When I was first introduced to a michelada, I thought it was a bad idea. You don't put stuff in beer. Now I wish I could get one in Chile.
	How to make a Michelada: A few drops of hot sauce, such as Valentina or Bufalo. A few drops of Worcestershire sauce A few drops of Maggi seasoning or soy sauce. Squeeze a lime wedge (lemon wouldn't be strong nor sour enough). Mix the ingredients in the glass. Slowly add one 325 mL (12 Fl. oz.) Mexican beer (Sol or Corona).
	Carlye! My house mate in Guadalajara. She and her crazy friends know of every party happening in Guadalajara.
	Hilda and Fernando. The night I left Guadalajara happen to also be Fernando's birthday. His friends all gathered a trendy bar to celebrate. It is about 12:30 am when this picture was taken. My flight left at 6 am the next morning and I made it!

Jumping the Border

2007-04-15T17:55:00.000-05:00


While traveling in southeast Mexico, we had the opportunity to cross into Guatemala. We like to call it an illegal boarder crossing, but I am sure that it was not illegal or at least something people here would care about. No boarder guard, not fence, nothing. In all we made it about 30 meters into Guatemala then the sky opened up and poured rain on us. We “shopped” in the small market for about an hour waiting for the rain to stop.

Teotihuacán

2007-03-25T14:54:00.000-05:00

During my drip to Mexico City (also called the DF, like Washington is called DC) we visited Teotihuacan, once the biggest city in the Americas, a title now held by Mexico City. The city is named for the civilization at its center. Later the Aztecs thought the building were pretty cool and used them as well.

The Aztecs called this the Sun Pyramid, but the Teotihuacans used it to worship the rain god. I think the Tecotihuacans had the better idea, because if I was living in the desert, I would be wanting more rain than sun.

Dan with a Big Freaking cactus. Or is it cacti...

Where is the wheelchair access? Historians say these pyramids were used for human sacrifice. After reviewing the evidence, I think the bodies they found were just people who fell down the stairs.

#35 by CNN/Money

2007-02-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

University of South Carolina press release clip:

The Moore School of Business is among the "50 Best MBA Schools for Getting Hired," according to a new ranking released by CNNMoney.com.
Of the top 111 accredited U.S. business schools, the University of South Carolina's business school was ranked No. 35, based on an analysis by Fortune magazine and its web partner, QS. The results were based on surveys of 445 human resource managers responsible for MBA hiring, the percentage of students employed within three months of graduation, the average number of employment offers and students' average salary on graduation.

#35 in the country is great, but I wonder about the accuracy of the numbers. For starters, UNC-Chapel Hill did not qualify due to a mistake by CNN/Money editors. Second, the numbers published for the Moore School of Business are not accurate. For example:

Category	As published by CNN/Money	As published by GCMO at the Moore School for 2006
Average starting base Salary	$65,000	$76,657
Bonus	$8,700	$8,800
students employed in 3 months	40%	88%

I am not sure if the variation in the statistics is due to a mistake or differences in methodology. Either way, these variations are significant. Universities across the US live and die by the academic rankings of national publications. While business school administrators will down play the importance of rankings, studies show that ranks do influence potential students. Before joining the program at the Moore School, I used rankings to certify its status as a top MBA program in international business.

Academic rankings have some enormous flaws. First, rankings become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Schools with top rankings get the top students and schools get the top rankings due to their top students. Second, editors of publications pick and weight the qualities for their publication. Rarely, if ever, will these arbitrary selections reflect a person’s personal needs.

As Dr. Martin Schatz put it:

Most likely, no single MBA program is best for everyone, and almost every program is best for someone. The match has to be individualized.

*UPDATE*
CNN/Money has taken down the ranking list...
CNN/MONEY:

Correction: Top 50 Business Schools
February 27 2007: 2:28 PM EST

Last week, CNNMoney.com published "Top 50 Business Schools for Getting Hired."
The data for the list was provided by an outside vendor, Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. Upon our publication of the feature, we were alerted to potential flaws in the provided data and the data survey methodology.
These flaws in methodology may have resulted in University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School and Boston University being omitted from the list.
CNNMoney.com regrets the error, and apologizes to its readers and the business schools involved. The list has been removed from the site.

Peurto Vallarta

2007-02-18T16:52:00.000-05:00

A demostration of the Brazilian Samba at the hotel we stayed at in Puerto Vallarta (Ba-yar-ta).

From 20070217

Dan with our program coordinators with a friend: Alejandra Piña, Dan, Cynthia, and Paulina

Rock Band Photo

2007-02-18T15:14:00.000-05:00

A group of us went to a hot spring outside Guadalajara and also hiked to an ancient native American pyramid. The local tribe would burn everything they own every thirteen years and they used this site to do it.

Morelia

2007-02-06T23:40:00.000-05:00

The colonial city of Morelia is the capital of Michoacán state. Although it was raining most of the day, we were able to take nice pictures of the two towers of the baroque cathedral.

Chapala

2007-01-28T17:30:00.000-05:00

Lake Chapala is located near to Guadalajara and is popular with American retirees. My host family took me to a spa with natural hotsprings.

Photo: Dan (Me), Carley (student from Wisconson), Gaby (host sister), Fernando (host brother), and Hilda (Fernando's girlfriend).
At night, the local fishermen fish for little fish about three inches long. I tried one, but was not a big fan.

Weekends

2007-01-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

Alex and una mexicana. Abrirte los ojos!

Jared (from Wisconson) finds his mexican self.
Carley (my housemate) and her friend Pickle.

I need a name!

2007-01-28T16:39:00.000-05:00

This is a lamp in my house and she needs a name.

Can you help?

Tlaquepaque part 2

2007-01-28T16:25:00.000-05:00

Tlaquepaque is a small town know for it arts and crafts. The program took us for a visit. The dancer video bellow is from the same town.

Chicken breast anyone?

A statue by a famous local artist.

Alex and Alejandra. The flowers have been dipped in holy water and passed out by local girls.

My house in Mexico

2007-01-21T18:12:00.000-05:00


Shows my street and the walk to my house in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Dancers at Tlaquepaque

2007-01-21T16:08:00.000-05:00


Tlaquepaque (cla-k-pa-k) outside Guadalajara. Tourist trap really, but a nice place.

It has started!

2006-09-27T19:25:00.000-05:00

Monday during the moonless night, the head witch vowed never to sleep again until all descendents of medieval witch hunters were behind bars. Logically starting with the descendants of Matthew Hopkins (for readers from low context cultures, read foreigners), the head which decided to add at least one person to the FBI list of most wanted individuals. Probably mistaking me for Warren Steed Jeffs, the head witch determined that a sexy francophone accent must be equivalent to sex offender. Who will stop the coven before it is too late?

For those who do not know what I am talking about, ask Tara about her nightmares that involve me, the FBI and a 1960's levitating almond colored computer.

state of fatigue

2006-09-22T17:51:00.000-05:00

This video accurately represents my present state, at three days of the Operations Management exam.

Too_much_work
envoyÃ© par cadreblog

Senate Street Spy Exclusive!

2006-09-16T17:50:00.000-05:00

The SSS (Senate Street Spy) exposes the secret behind the best dressed man of IMBA - Alexandre Mandy

Mind you, it is not easy to keep up with that reputation. To make sure the process of dressing is in control; Samantha Gennings consultant to Alexandre Mandy; focuses on the following competitive capabilities: Top quality clothes, development (dressing) speed and customization. A four step systematic approach is used:

1. Identify the problem. (oops, I mean opportunity)

"Don't just stand there, let's get to it
Strike a pose, there's nothing to it"

2. Document process

Behind every well dressed man is -

A woman
(of course!)

3. Evaluate Performance

And now the cuff links for the final touch..., please do notice that the cuff links are black and that it matches with the trousers. Navy blue is not good enough.

4. The results

And voilà, The debonair Mandy is all set for another day of work!

Watch out for the SSS. They could be in your house next!!!

Behind the Scenes with Team 10

2006-09-11T17:48:00.000-05:00

For our Global Entrepreneurship class, we all had to come up with a business plan that we would pitch to our fellow students in the program, who, in turn would rate us in a small competition where the winner will receive $500.
I was lucky to be in team 10, the greatest team in the program. After having the best idea for our project: a recording and video studio located in malls across the US, where people can show up and create their own songs from scratch. U-Record, as we named our project company, would be there to make individuals' dreams come true. To entice our fellow cohorts to our product, Shaun had the idea to make a little video featuring every one's favorite classmates! Even though Vangie promised to kill me if I did , I will show you a couple of exclusive behind the scenes pictures of the now world famous Moore IMBA Playa from the Himalayas video. Here is a post by the playa himself!

September 11 hack at MIT

2006-09-11T17:27:00.000-05:00

My brother who studies at MIT sent me an SMS earlier today informing me that there was a fire truck on the MIT dome.

Now for those of you who don't know, the dome at MIT is often victim of student pranks (called hacks at MIT) . A couple of years ago, it was transformed into R2D2 and it famously had a fake police car on top of it.

In 2006, hacks seem to have abounded, starting with the Torino Olympic medal hack and culminating with the ingenuous "relocation" of the Caltech Cannon from California to Massachusetts .

I am waiting for the day when there will be a huge cockroach on the dome of the Capstone Building here at USC. In the meantime, keep checking the IHTFP website for updates on the hacks at MIT.

...and a DA joke...better late than never...

2006-09-05T21:17:00.000-05:00

"The tree of life is self-pruning..."

2006-09-05T20:16:00.000-05:00

Since no one has posted in a while, and Dan and I were talking about Darwin Awards today, I thought I'd put my favorite one on here cause it's f-ing funny.

The Bricklayer, 1998 Honorable Mention ('cause he didn't die)

Accident Report
This one needs an introduction, so you won't be lost at the beginning. This man was in an accident at work, so he filled out an insurance claim. The insurance company contacted him and asked for more information. This was his response:
"I am writing in response to your request for additional information, for block number 3 of the accident reporting form. I put 'poor planning' as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully and I trust the following detail will be sufficient. I am an amateur radio operator and on the day of the accident, I was working alone on the top section of my new 80-foot tower. When I had completed my work, I discovered that I had, over the course of several trips up the tower, brought up about 300 pounds of tools and spare hardware. Rather than carry the now unneeded tools and material down by hand, I decided to lower the items down in a small barrel by using the pulley attached to the gin pole at the top of the tower. Securing the rope at ground level, I went to the top of the tower and loaded the tools and material into the barrel. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow decent of the 300 pounds of tools."
"You will note in block number 11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh only 155 pounds. Due to my surprise of being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate of speed up the side of the tower. In the vicinity of the 40-foot level, I met the barrel coming down. This explains my fractured skull and broken collarbone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold onto the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of tools hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel."
"Devoid of the weight of the tools, the barrel now weighed approximately 20 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the tower. In the vicinity of the 40-foot level, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, and the lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of tools and, fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the tools, in pain, unable to stand and watching the empty barrel 80 feet above me, I again lost my presence of mind. I let go of the rope..."

Adam Smith

2006-08-29T06:15:00.000-05:00

Adam Smith made a bold intellectual step in 1776 when he proposed international trade benefits all involved. If you need a case study in the benefits of trade, look at the United States itself. The US economic power derives from unfettered trade between 50 states. Why must the benefits of trade stop at the US border?

While it is nearly impossible to convince the public about the benefits of trade, some in government understand. Protectionism does not keep jobs! If politicians want to keep jobs, they need to ensure an educated, flexible and productive workforce.

(Caption) I am visiting the grave of Adam Smith in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2001. The grave stone is attached to the back of a building on the Royal Mile.

Inspiration...

2006-08-24T21:15:00.000-05:00

Demand and Supply

2006-08-22T19:25:00.000-05:00

Having problems with economics?
Here is an explanation of the basic law of demand and supply in plain and simple terms... (you need to apply this in the context of our leadership class)

Cat Food

2006-08-21T14:18:00.000-05:00

In his personal finance class, NC State lecturer, John Huggard passes out news clippings with stories of old people crowded into small apartments surviving on cat food. He intended to show the importance of saving for retirement. If you do not save, your future may include cans of IAMS.

Last week President Bush signed into law changes to the corporate pension system, an act that many analysts believe affirms the slow death of traditional pension plan. Congress passed this law as Delta’s pilots lost their pension plans and IBM won the legal change to the forceful buyout all its employees' plans.

Pension plans give guaranteed benefits to workers and remove the worker from financial decisions. The workers never have to contribute to the program and professionals handle the investment. Show up for work and you get paid for life. The system works until corporations renege on the guarantee by going bankrupt. There again, corporations can go bankrupt trying to keep up these guarantees. GM pays $1500 per vehicle it sells to its pension’s healthcare benefit. Pensions force the risk of inflation and long life (yes, long life is a risk) onto the corporations. 401Ks on the other hand push these risks onto worker.

401K plans also its plusses and minuses. On the upside, 401Ks give workers ownership and all the benefits ownership gives. On the other hand, myopia hurts 401K plans the most as people have a tendency to cash out their 401K when the leave a job. Another downside, people do not know how to properly invest their money. Finally, for low-income employees who just make it now, where are they going to find the money to contribute to a 401k?

Nobody should loss his or her pensions and the government should do all it can to prevent it from happenning. I think 401Ks are a better path than pensions, but the government needs better inducements for people to contribute and keep their money in their retirement accounts. Until then, I suggest you buy shares in PETCO.

It is a state! I have proof!

2006-08-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

There are roads leading to West Virginia

The "other" Charleston

Who says West Virginia is a poor state with non business savvy rednecks? They are smart, they just invested all their money on a gold domed capitol. Did you know the prices of gold has increased substantially after they recoated the gold. Smart investment!
Jokes apart, this is by far the best looking capitol in the country.

Found this on Wikipedia..

The racial/ethnic makeup of the state is:
94.7% White, not of Hispanic origin , 3.1% Black , 0.7% Hispanic of any race , 0.5% Asian , 0.2% Native American , 0.9% Mixed race .
The five largest ancestry groups in West Virginia are: American (23.2%), German (17.2%), Irish (13.5%), English (12%), Italian (4.8%)

So Alex, this goes against your theory about West Virginians - we are a diverse group

Also, the following people were born/have lived in WV just to name a few:
Classical composer George Crumb
Alias star Jennifer Garner
Booker T. Washington, the writer, educator, and early civil rights leader
NFL superstar Randy Moss
Miami Heat point guard Jason Williams

Former Major League Baseball player and current sportscaster John Kruk

Actresses Ann Magnuson, Conchata Ferrell, and Jean Carson.
Creator of Droodles and television personality Roger Price.
Soap opera actress Lesli Kay who has appeared on As the World Turns, General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful.
Country singer Kathy Mattea

And no, I am not related to any of them.

Country roads, take me home....

2006-08-11T17:55:00.000-05:00

So I needed to get away from USC and books and have decided to go to Charleston for the weekend. No not Charleston SC! You know there is another Charleston, which also happens to be the capital of West Virgina. Well, its bad enough that people do not know about Charlie West.. but whats worse is when they do not know about West Virginia. Recently I got carded when entering a bar, and when i presented my West Virginia driver's license and the guy scoffed at me and said "If you're going to use a fake ID, you could at least use a real state!" Seriously!!!! It is a state! And by golly I am going to take pictures this weekend to proove it!

Globalization and Corporate Responsibility

2006-08-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

Hommage to Dr. Spicer

Ummmm.......yeah..................

2006-08-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

...so this is how you sell beef in India...

The only thing creepier is watching a fat guy eat supersized fries.

(Is it just me or does scary clown baby have a severed torso?)

__________________________________________________________

PAPA RONNIE BACK TO WORK AFTER BIRTH OF EVIL SON.

The natural reaction upon seeing this ad is to hope that Ronald McDonald has done the right thing and taken baby Ronald into the woods and buried him in a deep hole.

(Unfortunately, the ad is for McDonald’s delivery service Mumbai)

Why did I pursue a MBA?

2006-08-10T19:43:00.000-05:00

In the early 1900s, American universities created the first Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees to teach scientist and engineers about business.While the MBA has lost this focus, it remains a popular avenue for people switching careers. In this aspect, I am just one in the herd.

After graduating from North Carolina State in 2000, I have worked in highly technical environments. In my first job, I developed software for a procurement system. In my second job, I worked with a naval contractor building data reporting applications. While I enjoyed both jobs, both left me with the feeling I wanted more. A MBA degree, I decided, would allow me to branch out and explore my entrepreneurial side.

Why the Moore School of Business?

After moving to Charleston, SC in July of 2005, I stumbled upon the Moore School of Business's International MBA program at the University of South Carolina. The program caught my eye because of its international expertise. US News and World Report has ranked the program in the top two for international business for the past 16 years. Other publications have also recognized the school’s quality. The school builds in a four-month language emersion course and a 4-month international internship into the degree.

Given my experience studying in Adelaide, Australia and living in Edinburgh, Scotland, I have established my love for international travel. The Moore School allows me to travel and to get a quality MBA. They had me at hello. Rather than trying a degree online or part-time, I chose to go fulltime.

My fulltime status means I will miss two years of salary and work experience. If I purely considered return on investment, I would have never gone back to school. I am here to expand my horizons and increase my network. I am confident it will payoff in the end.

Allow me to introduce myself...

2006-08-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

I am T Bell from Charleston, SC and I live near these other folks. I am enjoying B-school, but I’m not really going to focus on that. I was self-diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) a few years back. I have problems focusing on anything too long. I like to switch it up often. About a year ago I was living in Japan by myself and I had to find things to do with my time. I did a lot of bike riding, attending festivals and traveling across the country to visit my friends The one thing that I missed most while I was in Japan, beside family and friends was music videos. I have been obsessed with hip-hop, especially music videos since childhood. I had an older sister Tiffany (+8 yrs.) and brother Thad (+10 yrs). My brother was really into hip-hop, as it was in its earlier and arguably best stages. Around the age of 5, I began to watch BET with him as he taught me raps and dances. He was an awesome dancer and a great lyricist. He taught lyrics to random raps, which I would sing in the presence of my mother who would flip out because of the incorrect grammar. My sister suffered middle child syndrome and hated me many periods of my life. I was kind of annoying; I wanted to be just like her. Occasionally the three of us would chill and we’d have vinegar-drinking contests and act out scenes from Good Times. Anyway, I fell in love with music, particularly hip-hop and music videos. The soundtrack of my life is beautiful. The most memorable events in my life are associated with songs that bring back nostalgic feelings. If you are a music lover, you know what I mean.

What is Bunko?

2006-08-10T09:38:00.000-05:00

These vixens in our class have been having this coven every other week and I really want to know what it is all about. Initially the plan had been to dress up as girls with wigs and all and to show up to their oh-so secret meeting. But my teammate blew it off so it didn’t happen.
My only resort was to use the greatest tool on hand: the Internet, to find what this secret women’s society was all about.

Wikipedia tells me that Bunko is one of three things:

- Bunkobon, a Japanese book format (obviously not that)

- A slang term for Fraud (hum, interesting, are they preparing some large scale scam using their charms? – I’m sure there’s already a list of volunteer guinea pig candidates circulating on our yahoo group)

- Bunko Kanazawa, a Japanese adult film actress (This is funny because I actually lived in the city of Kanazawa in Japan, charming city by the way)

So is Wikipedia just a bunch of useless knowledge?

Answers.com is more insightful:

bun·co also bun·ko (bŭng'kō) n., pl. -cos also -kos.
A swindle in which an unsuspecting person is cheated.
[Probably alteration of Spanish banca, card game, from Italian banca, bank, of Germanic origin.]

This probably indicates why the infamous Moore IMBA Bunko Society is so secret and closed to non-invited members.

After a ingenuous questioning of the head sorceress this afternoon, I have stumbled on information about these enigmatic gatherings. The information is still classified and sources have not been cross checked yet, but it does seem that high heels, underwear and pillows are part of the get-together.

Dear avid readers of this blog, Detective A-Lex shall pursue his relentless search for the truth behind these unorthodox gatherings and shall report to you as soon as more information surfaces the murky waters of Gossiptown.

¿Dónde está Louis?

2006-08-08T22:27:00.000-05:00

Why, oh why, has my track advisor abandoned me.......? *sob*

Pink is my new Obsession!

2006-08-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

I love pink!
Is that shocking?
I love to wear pink shirts, I probably have as many of them as blue or white ones: from salmon colored to mashed raspberries, there is a wide array of pink shirts available. How about pink ties, they also look nice (except on a pink shirt, you just can’t wear the same color or tone on top of each other – yes, I know, Donald Trump does it, but that’s why he is in real estate and not in fashion; and just look at his “hair”).
So what’s the big deal about wearing pink? I’ve worn pink clothes as far as I can remember. Probably it’s more common in Europe for guys to wear pink than it is over here. Or so I thought until a couple of years ago, I visited my best friend in Bulgaria. We were in this shop on the main shopping street, buying shirts at a very cheap price: light blue, white, dark blue… Then I asked my friend to ask the saleswomen (I don’t speak Bulgarian) if they had any pink shirts, and the ladies just started laughing, by the time they were done making fun of me in Bulgarian, I was the one who was pink in the face. It seems that eastern European men do not wear pink. They are masculine guys, you see, therefore they don’t wear pink.
Well, somehow, pink is associated with women, and therefore guys shouldn’t wear it.
Not true. Real guys do wear pink. I even found this article about these cowboys wearing pink for a good cause (“tough guys wear pink!”). For those who know sports, the leader of the Giro d’Italia cycling race wears a pink jersey and the most famous sports newspaper in Italy is printed on pink paper (La Gazzetta dello Sport).
But more importantly, a man wearing pink shows that he is secure about his sexuality, that he is not afraid to wear a color other people might attribute to women. And quite frankly, women like that.

Salsa

2006-08-08T10:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Ben and his wife Svetlana, we IMBA's can get to learn some latino moves. Svetlana is an excellent instructor... Don't take my word for it, just look at the pictures. This was the first lesson we had, with no-one having had prior salsa experience. Hard to believe. I know.

Its still not too late to join in - Every Saturday, at 4:00pm at Platt. It's a blast!

Merengue

Check out the moves:
Can you believe this was the first lesson in latin american dancing?

Sunday Night Trivia at Delany's

2006-08-08T07:30:00.000-05:00

The fierce Reunify Gondaland team

The mighty Shake & Bake team.

Two quintessential members of ThePimpin IMBAs

World-wide Free Market Poll

2006-08-06T15:39:00.000-05:00

In the Globalization and Corporate Social Responsibility class we have at the Darla Moore School of Business IMBA program, we face a recurrent question: are free markets fair? And are free markets the best system on which to base the future world? Or should governments regulate companies more then they do today?

An interesting insight in this matter is the GlobeScan poll that asked the question whether a majority or plurality of people in different countries agreed with the statement that “the free enterprise system and free market economy is the best system on which to base the future of the world.”

The results are fairly interesting, most countries have responded positively to a free market world, with a surprising positive response from third world countries such as China (74%), the Philippines (73%), India (70%), Indonesia (68%) and Nigeria (66%). France ended with the lowest score, with only 36% of frogs agreeing (and 50% disagreeing) that a free market system would be the best system for the world in the future. The other countries with low scores were Argentina (42% agreeing, 29% disagreeing), Russia (43% agreeing, 34% disagreeing) and Turkey (47% agreeing and 36% disagreeing).

This poll only reinforces my conviction that the population of Europe in general and of France (and Belgium) in particular are not willing to make the sacrifice needed to continue to be important player in the future world. Economically, these countries are not doing well compared to other developed countries (USA in particular) but also compared to developing countries. Since more than 20 years, France and Belgium each totaled only half the economic growth (percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product) of the United States for instance. The percentage in itself is not problematic in itself, what is problematic is that the countries’ leaders and population are unwilling to do anything about it. Germany seems to be on the right track with the Schroeder and Merkel governments implementing changes such as softening labor laws… Something utterly unthinkable in Germany’s francophone neighbors.
In 20 years, it will be countries like Belgium and France that will be clamoring for more handouts from the USA… and China!