OO CC TT OO BB EE RR 22 00 00 441 First Friday—MBA alumni and student networking

event—Gasthof zur Gemütlichkeit, 2300 University Ave. N.E., Minneapolis, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

5 First Tuesday—Jim Cracchiolo, president, Global Financial Services Group, American Express, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E.,Minneapolis, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

17–23 Homecoming 2004

28 Denver-area Alumni Networking Reception—The Brown Palace Hotel, 321 17th St., Denver, 6–8 p.m.

NN OO VV EE MM BB EE RR 22 00 00 442 First Tuesday—Lenny Pippin, president and CEO,

The Schwann Food Co., McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

5 First Friday—MBA alumni and student networking event—Tonic of Uptown, 1400 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

8 Inside the Boardroom—a leadership series hosted by Marilyn Carlson Nelson; Featuring Linda Alvarado, president and CEO, Alvarado Construction, Carlson School of Management, 321 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, 5:30–8 p.m.

17–18 San Francisco/San Jose Alumni Networking Receptions

DD EE CC EE MM BB EE RR 22 00 00 443 First Friday—MBA alumni and student networking

event—Mpls. Café, 1110 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

7 First Tuesday—Bill George, former chairman and CEO, Medtronic and author of Authentic Leadership, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

For more information on alumni events, go to www.carlsonschool.umn.edu/events.

Event Calendar

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PAIDMinneapolis, MNPermit No. 155321 Nineteenth Avenue South

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS / CARLSON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FALL 2004

CarlsonSchoolCarlsonSchool

BeyondtheGlassCeiling

Pri Shah, associate professorof strategic managementand organization

BeyondtheGlassCeilingCarlson Schoolfacultyresearchexplores theissuesthatwomen face intoday’sbusinessworld.

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The University of Minnesota’s School of BusinessAdministration hosted the Business Equality for AmericanMinorities (BEAM) Small Business Management class between1968 and 1972. Organized by Honeywell’s then-Vice Presidentfor Development John Mitchell (standing, far right) and formerAccounting Professor Robert K. Zimmer (seated, fourth fromleft), BEAM was a collaboration with the Minneapolis UrbanLeague and the Minnesota Economic DevelopmentAssociation. Mitchell and Zimmer assisted more than 100students and local business people with business planning,management, and entrepreneurship. “We had a ball,” recallsZimmer. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he and Mitchell tookthe concept on the road, presenting the BEAM model to othercivic and educational organizations across the country.

The Dean’s Corner

This year, for the first time, women will make up 55 percent of theCarlson School’s undergraduate class. And for seven years in a row,more women than men have enrolled in our undergraduate program.

But this trend isn’t echoed in the numbers of women executives—CEOs,CFOs, presidents, and vice presidents—throughout the business world. In fact,those numbers have been declining for a decade. That decline is reflected in

MBA programs around the country,where women make up only 30 percent ofthe total MBA student population. TheCarlson School’s program is no exception.

These two trends—one encouraging,the other troubling—are reminders ofthe importance of actively fosteringdiversity. For that reason, we’vededicated this issue of Carlson School to acloser look at the roles of women inbusiness.

An enlightening roundtable discussionrecently took place at the Carlson Schoolduring which eight accomplished womengathered to discuss issues they’ve faced inthe business world. Their wide-rangingconversation touched on such subjects asthe glass ceiling, MBAs, mentors, andmuch more. We hope you find theirdiscussion as fascinating as we did.

In a similar vein, our feature on recent Carlson School faculty researchilluminates the ways in which gender affects the workplace—from thedifferences in how men and women process information to negotiationtechniques to the insidious effects of sexual harassment.

Finally, we turn our attention to current events—the marketing of the twoPresidential contenders. Carlson School graduates and faculty and several keyobservers reveal how the current campaigns are using marketing strategies tocraft their messages and target their audiences.In the process, we reveal changingpolitical funding laws and the impact of advertising—including research thatcasts new light on the effectiveness of attack ads. We also examine the way inwhich campaigners seek to increase market share by inspiring new voters.

The diverse topics in this issue illustrate how our faculty and staff are workingto increase our understanding of what’s happening in the world. We hope you’llfind ample evidence of how our researchers and alumni are contributing to newways of thinking about the social roles and current events that shape the world ofbusiness for women and men—today and in the future.

Sincerely,

Lawrence BenvenisteDean

M I S S I O N S T AT E M E N T

The mission of the Carlson Schoolof Management is to provide the highestquality education for present and future businessand academic leaders, and advancethe understanding and practice ofmanagement through research and outreach.

Carlson SchoolA M A G A Z I N E F O R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S

Carlson School is published for alumni and friends of theCarlson School of Management. Direct correspondence to:Alumni Relations, Office of the Dean, 321 19th Ave. S.,Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Visit our website at www.carlsonschool.umn.edu. For information about Carlson School alumni programs,contact Alumni Relations at alumni@carlsonschool.umn.edu.

EXECUTIVE EDITORCatherine Peloquin

EDITORChris Mikko

ASSOCIATE EDITORCaitlin Kimball

ART DIRECTIONBarbara Koster Design

CUSTOM PUBLISHING SERVICESThe Coghlan Group

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSAndrew Bacskai, Suzy Frisch, Anne RawlandGabriel, Sara Gilbert, Katy Holmgren, JayneJones, Mary Lahr Schier, Michael Weinbeck

PHOTOGRAPHYJayme Halbritter, Sara Jorde, Mark Luinenburg,Dan Marshall, Tony Nelson, Sheila Ryan,Anthony Brett Schreck

OFFICE OF THE DEANLawrence Benveniste Dean

Dennis Ahlburg Senior Associate Dean and Associate Dean of Faculty and Research

Stefanie Lenway Associate Dean of MBA Programs

Michael Houston Associate Dean of International Programs

Robert Ruekert Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs

Steven Hatting Executive Director of Corporate and Alumni Services

Jayne Jones Director of Marketing

Kristine KosekDirector of Alumni Services and Outreach

Chris Mayr Chief Development Officer

ADVISORY BOARD LEADERSHIPEdwin “Skip” Gage Chair, Board of Overseers

Robert Buuck, ’70 BSB, ’72 MBA Vice Chair, Board of Overseers

Mark Stoering, ’93 MBA Chair, Alumni Advisory Board

© 2004 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

Accredited by AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunityeducator and employer.

This publication is available in alternative formats upon request.

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CONTENTS

INSIDE FRONT COVER: The Dean’s Corner Dean Larry Benvenisteon the Carlson School’s contributions to research into the socialroles and current events that shape today’s business world.

2 The Atrium: Yvonne Cheung Ho shares the wealth,Maggie Schomaker pioneers new cross-cultural understanding, Tom and Donna Brady help scores of underprivileged students, and much more.

FEATURES

14 Cover Story—Women at Work: From the glass ceiling to work-life balance, a panel of experiencedbusiness people discuss the issues that women face in today’s work world.

20 Works in Progress—A trio of Carlson School professors offers research insight into the unique experiences of women in today’s business world.

24 Power Selling: The Marketing of the 2004 Presidential Race—The Presidential election is more than an exercise in democracy. It’s evolved into a wildly expensive and sophisticated marketing campaign.Is it money well-spent?

30 7 Questions: A chat with Kathryn Carlson, assistantdean and director of the Carlson School’s Part-Time and Executive MBA programs.

31 Class Notes

INSIDE BACK COVER: Time Capsule—A look back at the BusinessEquality for American Minorities (BEAM) Small BusinessManagement class hosted by the University of Minnesotabetween 1968 and 1972.

Rohini Ahluwalia, page 29 Akshay Rao, page 26

FRONT COVER: PRI SHAH, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION. PHOTOGRAPH BY DAN MARSHALL.

Fall 2004

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2 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

When seven Carlson School Advantage Program scholarshiprecipients met for a luncheon in May, they represented one of theschool’s most meaningful philanthropic achievements. For the pastdecade, Tom and Donna Brady have funded scholarships aimed atunderprivileged minority students.

Over the years, several students had asked the Bradys to visitthe school and attend their graduations, but other plans hadalways interfered. May’s luncheon was the first opportunity forthem to meet some of the students whose lives they’ve influenced.“It was an emotional meeting,” says Tom, ’49 BSB. “We wereimpressed by the intensity of the students.”

The couple’s decade of support of the scholarship fund hashelped 25 students complete their educations and go on tosuccessful careers. For example, one recipient is a vice president atJP Morgan-Chase. Another is studying for his master’s degree intaxation at the Carlson School while working full time in the tax

department at Deloitte. One of theearly recipients is in the accountingdepartment at Best Buy. Andanother recent graduate returned toschool to finish his pre-med studiesand attend medical school.

All of these students came to theschool with backgrounds marked bychallenges. Their peers, observedone student during the luncheon, areoften stuck in dead-end jobs,working to make ends meet. Thescholarship recipients’ chance tocome to the Carlson School hasenhanced their futures.

The Bradys understand thechallenge of difficult circumstances.In their own youth on Minnesota’s

Iron Range during the Great Depression they saw a dismissiveattitude toward people who wanted a college education—primarilybecause getting a job was the most important goal, and manyparents could not afford to support a college student. There aredistinct analogies between those times and the way minoritystudents are often dissuaded from attending college today, saysTom.

“Our goal is to give them the tools to have a better life,” addsDonna.

Another, no less important goal is to encourage the students toacknowledge the advantages they received through theirUniversity education and to return the favor by supporting futurestudents. “We admire the sincerity of these students and theirinterest in giving support to others in this program in the future,”says Tom.

—Michael Weinbeck

Donna and Tom Brady, front, withCarlson School Advantage Programscholarship recipients. Front row: BryanGilmore, ’05 BSB; Evelyn Munoz, ’99BSB; Derek Barraza, ’04 BSB. Back row:J. Todd Russell, ’99 BSB (and currentlyin the Master’s of Business Taxationprogram); Mark Smith, ’04 BSB;Christopher Hussain, ’04 BSB; JordanBaskett-Pee, ’06 BSB.

Change AgentsOver the last decade, Tom and Donna Brady have helped create promisingfutures for numerous Carlson School grads.

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AtriumNews and updates from around the Carlson School and beyond.

“It was an emotionalmeeting. We wereimpressed by theintensity of the students.”

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F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 3

As president and CEO of the Minneapolis-based MetropolitanEconomic Development Association (MEDA), Yvonne CheungHo and the organization she leads have helped thousands ofminority entrepreneurs succeed at business and, in turn, injectmillions of dollars into the Twin Cities-area economy. Thanks inpart to Ho’s leadership MEDA has become a potent cultivator ofthe minority-owned business community. For these reasons andmore, the University of Minnesota recently chose Ho to receivethe Outstanding Achievement Award, its highest honor foralumni.

Ho moved from Hong Kong to join her sister at the Universityin 1972. After graduating, she joined IBM as a systems engineer,

and later spent seven years at Norwest Bank (nowWells Fargo), where she worked in systems, cashmanagement, and commercial lending. Ho took afew years off to raise her son, and when she wasready to re-enter the workforce in 1993, sheinterviewed at MEDA. She didn’t know much aboutthe nonprofit, but her new position as director ofbusiness development and programs turned out tobe a dream job.

“At that time, I just needed a job,” Ho confesses.“I really didn’t know too much about what MEDAdid. But right after I started, I knew that it was theright thing to do; I’ve loved what I have been doingever since. I am always amazed that I am actually ina job where I can make a positive difference in ourcommunities. I never knew that you could actuallycombine making a difference and a job.”

Ho certainly has made a difference throughMEDA. Through its combination of consultingservices, training, marketing assistance, and loans,

the organization teaches minority entrepreneurs “how to fishinstead of giving them the fish,” as Ho puts it. Last year, MEDA’sclients employed 4,500 people, about 50 percent of whom areminorities, and reported $867 million in revenue.

Beyond her work at MEDA, Ho finds other ways to share hertalents with the community. She serves on the boards of theMinnesota Council of Nonprofits, Junior Achievement of theUpper Midwest, North Memorial Health Care, the AmericanIndian Neighborhood Development Corp., and the Children’sTheatre Co. For all of her efforts and achievements, in 2002 theMinneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal named her one of its 25 MostInfluential Women in Business, and the U.S. Small BusinessAdministration recognized her as the Minority Small BusinessAdvocate of the Year.

Despite these honors, Ho says that she was completelysurprised by the U of M’s Outstanding Achievement Award.“I thought the office made a mistake,” she says.

No mistake—Yvonne Cheung Ho is one University ofMinnesota and Carlson School graduate to be proud of.

—Suzy Frisch

“I am always amazed that I amactually in a job where I can make a positive difference in ourcommunities.”

Sharing the WealthYvonne Cheung Ho, ’76 BSB, earns a tophonor for helping others prosper.

Yvonne Cheung Ho

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Percentage of businesses

owned by women nationally.

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who hold CEO titlesin Fortune 500 companies.

Last spring, a group of 75 Carlson School Executive MBA studentstraveled to Budapest and Vienna for a nine-day international residency,the final course in a demanding 18-month program. The whirlwind visitwas filled with meetings, conversations with international colleagues,

and multiple opportunities to share anddiscuss business strategies in a cross-cultural context.

Case in point: a heated discussionbetween the group and the chiefmarketing officer of Swarovski, theAustrian crystal maker, in which thestudents challenged the company’s newmarketing strategy. The debate centeredaround the question of whetherSwarovski should depart from itstraditionally high-end, selective retaildistribution approach in favor of broader,mass distribution that includes outletsranging from airport and hotel kiosks toCostco stores. The students contendedthat the company would risk significant

damage to its brand image by going mass market. “It was interesting tobe exposed to vastly different management philosophies,” says studentMindy Grantham, ’04 MBA.

The students also had an opportunity to apply program conceptsand develop broader sensitivity to cultural and social differences.Virginia Miller, ’03 MBA, notes that the experience gave her a differentinsight on international relationships. “I learned how I could improvesome of my international initiatives, as well as areas where collaborationwould not work at all,” she says.

Another memorable visit on the trip was to Securikett, a small butgrowing security printing business in Vienna. Students got the insidescoop from owners Marietta Ulrich, ’01 MBA, and her husband, WernerHorn, ’01 MBA, both of whom are graduates of the Vienna ExecutiveMBA program offered jointly by Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien and theCarlson School. Students couldn’t get enough as Ulrich and Horn talkedabout the entrepreneurial spirit and tenacity needed to run a startupenterprise, revealing the successes and mistakes they’ve made alongthe way. The group also spoke in-depth with the couple about takingrisks, finding capital, and the political ramifications of doing business inthe European Union. “The company visits expanded my thinking on theeffects of business on the global economy,” says Suzanne Simonett, ’04MBA.

Given the caliber and content of the discussions, the studentscertainly gained from the experience. At the same time, they alsohelped create the experience, leaving the companies they visited witha few things to think about as well. —Jayne Jones

Inside the BoardroomLinda Alvarado to speakat Carlson School event.Linda Alvarado, president and CEO of Denver-based Alvarado Construction, will be the guestof the next Carlson School of Management“Inside the Boardroom” Leadership Series event.Hosted and developed by Carlson Companies CEOand Chairman Marilyn Carlson Nelson, the eventwill take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, November 8.

Among other topics, Alvarado and Nelson willdiscuss Alvarado’s career, which has been markedby a number of groundbreaking and nontraditionalroles. They will also be joined by a group ofexperts to discuss a range of business issues.

In addition to her duties with AlvaradoConstruction, Alvarado is a co-owner of theColorado Rockies baseball team—a landmarkdesignation, as she was the first woman to bidfor and win ownership of a Major League Baseballfranchise. She also is a corporate director of 3M,Pepsi Bottling Group, Pitney Bowes, and LennoxInternational, and has received numerous awards,including a recent induction into the NationalWomen’s Hall of Fame.

Registration starts at 5:30 p.m. and anetworking reception follows. The event is freeand open to the public, but seating is limited.For more information, go towww.carlsonschool.umn.edu/page1198.aspx orcall 612-626-9635.

A group ofCarlson SchoolExecutive MBAstudents find—and offer—newperspectiveson a whirlwindEuropean tour.

AtriumAssignment: Europe

The entrance to Swarovski Crystal Worlds, the Austrian crystal

manufacturer’s unique corporate headquarters outside Innsbruck.

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Garry Lowenthal’s work schedulehas gotten a whole lot busier in thelast year or so. As CFO of NewHope, Minn.-based ViperMotorcycle Co., he’s on the insideof a venture that’s recently shiftedinto high gear. Last June, thecompany unveiled its first model,the Diablo Power Cruiser, a$30,000 bike flush with high-end

technology that’s been receiving rave reviews from motorcycleaficionados around the country. Lowenthal also chairs thenational finance and IT committee of Financial ExecutivesInternational, a Florham Park, N.J.-based professionalassociation, and is a member of the Carlson School AdvisoryBoard. At the same time, he’s also been preparing for Viper’s Fall’04 IPO, which will see the firm issue 1.4 million shares, accordingto the firm’s registration statement.

Carlson School: Given the new challenges of being a publicly

traded firm, what’s attractive about going public today?

Garry Lowenthal: If you have an appropriate business model, theopportunities for raising capital are still greater than as a privatecompany. The reason for the recent trend toward going private(“deregistration”) is that, three to five years ago, companies wentpublic that shouldn’t have.

CS: So what’s “an appropriate business model” for being a

public entity?

GL: Historically, it’s a model that is sufficiently profitable toprovide shareholder value or which has significant competitiveadvantages to ensure future profitability and growth. In addition,

an IPO should be for raising capital toexecute growth plans, not reducing debt.Those things haven’t changed. In fact,the dot-com bust served to reinforcethis.

CS: Has anything changed about

executing an IPO?

GL: Additional accounting and reportingrequirements are the most obvious.

Also, the dot-com years taught us that a vital component of asuccessful IPO is selecting an appropriate underwriter. And mostimportantly, your management team must be capable of executingyour business plans.

CS: And the costs associated with going public?

GL: While many call Sarbanes-Oxley and similar regulations“burdensome,” a wise CFO embraces them. Whether you’re apublic or private company, setting up your business to complywith today’s regulations means you have confidence from day one.That said, the average cost of complying is about $970,000 percompany, based on one recent study.

CS: If it takes nearly $1 million just for compliance, can

companies overcome IPO costs?

GL: Here, again, your business model is essential. Plan for thesecosts and invest in IT and internal controls, because the morerobust your IT systems and internal controls are, the lesscompliance costs over time.

CS: What about attracting executives, given the significant

personal liability associated with working for a public

company?

GL: It’s like anything else in today’s environment: you do yourhomework. A solid business model; quality talent; and a strong,independent board of directors are all key. And your board mustprimarily concern itself with protecting the public, not the CEO’ssalary, because protecting the public protects the company.

CS: Considering your professional leadership roles, what can

you tell us about the future of regulatory compliance?

GL:There’s plenty of good news. Most importantly, regulatoryagencies want to make compliance more efficient, particularly forsmaller companies. Today, all companies—large and small—haveprimarily the same reporting requirements. For the near term, theSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is giving smallcompanies additional time to comply with certain regulations.Over the long term, the SEC will be streamlining the process,with the use of a new structured financial reporting standardcalled XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language).

–Anne Rawland Gabriel

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“While many callSarbanes-Oxleyand similarregulations‘burdensome,’a wise CFOembraces them.”

In the Public Eye

Garry Lowenthal

GarryLowenthal, ’83MBT, ’80 BSB,discusses thenew IPOlandscape.

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Bob Carter, ’78 MBA, got more from the CarlsonSchool than a master’s degree. He also met his wifeand built the foundation for what has become one ofthe Midwest region’s largest mortgage companies.

As an MBA student, Carter took an insuranceand risk management course on Monday nights. Hisfuture wife, Diana, was enrolled in the only courseshe ever took at the Carlson School, a final class tocomplete her business degree at St. Cloud StateUniversity. Their relationship blossomed from beingseatmates in class to marriage a year later.

One of the greatest triumphs of their relationshiphad its start in 1992 when the couple cofoundedMinnetonka, Minn.-based Summit Mortgage Corp.“We had entrepreneurial leanings,” recalls Carter. “I

wanted to gain control of mydestiny. I wasn’t going to getthat in corporate America.”

The couple havedeveloped their business,which began with only aprocessor and anunderwriter, into acompany that employsmore than 400 people.“Many firms with a coupleat the helm find that one ofthe spouses is in thesupportive role,” says

Carter. “Ours is a partnership. Diana focuses onfinance and I focus on sales and marketing.”

Summit Mortgage has also benefited from thehistoric volume of activity in a housing market thatsaw $3.8 trillion in mortgage sales last year. “Ourchallenge is finding the best opportunities; we’re always lookingfor change,” says Carter, who notes that his success stems in partfrom a referral-focused sales team that’s been well equipped toreact to customer needs.

Summit Mortgage’s success has prompted the spinoff ofWinStar Mortgage, which deals in the wholesale mortgage industry.The company will be headed by Diana.

Recalling that their relationship and their careers started atthe Carlson School, the Carters recently made a gift to endow aFull-Time MBA scholarship. “Our education has been importantto us,” says Carter. “Now is a great time to give to the University.It really helps Minnesota to have a top-flight business schoollocated here.”

—Michael Weinbeck

InvestingintheFutureBob and Diana Carter haveprospered by making shrewdinvestments in their company. Now they’re helping theCarlson School do the same.

6 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

“Now is agreat time togive to theUniversity. Itreally helpsMinnesota tohave a top-flightbusinessschool.”

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Sometimes the obvious isn’t entirely obvious. Such is the premisebehind Carlson School doctoral candidate Maggie Schomaker’spioneering work on the role that language plays in the success ofcross-border mergers and acquisitions. “There’s a lot of talk about

‘culture’ in internationalbusiness,” says Schomaker.“But the under-researchedaspect of culture is language—even though language is one ofthe few measurable aspects ofculture.”

In other words, it’s assumedthat if a person is fluent in anonnative language, then he orshe is always communicatingclearly. “Yet, at a pragmaticlevel, communication goesbeyond grammar and syntax,”she notes. “A person’s culturalbackground is key, because

culture pervades language at levels that are imperceptible.“The business and political problems we’re having

internationally are demonstrating this to us, both explicitly andimplicitly,” adds Schomaker, who is pursuing a doctorate instrategic management and organization as well as a jointMA/PhD in linguistics. “It’sbecoming apparent we musttake cultural differences intoaccount.”

“For example, let’s say I’mshopping for office supplies,”she explains. “As an American, Imight ask the question: ‘Do yousell stationery?’ But, if I’m anative of France, one way tocorrectly translate the questioninto English would be perceivedas rude or accusatory: ‘You dosell stationery, don’t you?’”

It’s Schomaker’s hypothesisthat such linguistic dissimilaritiescreate friction within cross-border teams. The morelinguistically dissimilar a pair oflanguages, the greater thelikelihood of problems. “Bothsides may perceive the other asincompatible when they aren’t,”she says. “And they’re likely toattribute the problem to anincorrect source.”

Borrowing fromcomputational linguistics,

Schomaker is developing a quantitative measurement of“linguistic distance” between pairs of world languages. Then,she’ll survey companies that have recently acquired firms fromother countries. Theoretically, more successful knowledgetransfer will occur when entities are located in countries withrelatively low linguistic distance scores.

In addition to expanding the academic fields of business andlinguistics, Schomaker foresees practical applications. The first isawareness. “Having awareness triggers monitoring: You monitoryour understanding of others, as well as their understanding ofyou,” she says. “Awareness may also result in training andmanaging people differently.”

In addition, Schomaker hopes to provide businesses withobjective tools for evaluating cross-border mergers andacquisitions needs. “For instance, when linguistic distance is high,more native speakers may be required,” she says.

As business continues to globalize, language becomesincreasingly critical, notes Schomaker’s dissertation advisor,Professor Sri Zaheer. “Maggie approaches the subject from astrong background of language in context—how it can bemisunderstood, how it can be used, and what role it plays inpower within the organization,” Zaheer says. “Her thesis isexciting because we’ll gain significant insight into what businessescan do, and should do, to ensure success.”

—Anne Rawland Gabriel

Found in Translation

Carlson SchoolPhD candidateMaggie Schomakeris pioneeringefforts tounderstand thesubtle effects oflanguage andcultural differenceson internationalbusiness.

Maggie Schomaker

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Britta Anderson

John Reik

What AreYou Reading?

8 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

Atrium

JJoohhnn RReeiikkSSeenniioorr LLeeccttuurreerr,, FFiinnaannccee

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk byPeter L. Bernstein

Unfortunately, I don’t get much free time to read forenjoyment. When I do get some time, I like to readthings that cover more than one narrow area. I’mcurrently reading Against the Gods: The RemarkableStory of Risk. It’s a fascinating century-by-centurystory of how the world came to understand, define,measure, and use risk, thereby converting blind risk-taking into one of the major components of moderneconomic analysis. Beginning with a description of agame called astragalus that was depicted inEgyptian tomb paintings dated from 3500 B.C., andending with in-depth discussions of various modernconcepts and theories, this book is a wonderfulblending of history, statistics, insurance, economics,and finance. For anyone wishing to betterunderstand where insurance, economics, and financeconcepts came from and how they fit together, it’s aremarkable book.

BBrriittttaa AAnnddeerrssoonnUUnnddeerrggrraadduuaattee

Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip: Lead With Your Values andMake Money, Too by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield

In this book, Ben and Jerry [of Ben & Jerry’s IceCream fame] offer a complete guide to creating avalues-led business that makes money whilebenefiting an entire community. They explain howcommitment to worthy social causes will result inunprecedented customer and employee loyalty—andincrease profit. They also outline practical advice onmany aspects of business: hiring employees,choosing suppliers, human resources, retailing, andvalues-led financing.

This book shows that that you don’t have tosacrifice social involvement on the altar ofmaximizing profits. In a world where business is alltoo often seen negatively, this book inspires. Ben andJerry show firsthand that as your business supportsthe community, the community will support yourbusiness. Business gives the opportunity to be avehicle for change—an opportunity for profits tobenefit beyond shareholders. Reading this book leftme excited to be pursuing a career in this area.

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How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie

Reading Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Win Friendsand Influence People really improved my teamdynamics. Having just come out of a project with ourGerman counterparts that involved finger-pointingby both teams and barely making the schedule, Inegotiated to be the focal point in the United Statesand identified a focal point person on the Germanteam. We developed a strong relationship, knowingthat although our styles were different, we were alltrying to deliver a successful project. So any time theU.S. team had an issue that we thought was the otherteam’s issue, we went through a checklist on our endto make sure it was not us before contacting theGerman team’s focal point person. The German teamdid likewise. Seventy-five percent of the time, theissue was local to the team—and when it was not, weworked together to resolve it promptly. The booktaught me that communicating effectively andfocusing on what you and the other group want outof a project can help achieve significant results.

Carlson School alumFlip Saundersdetails the transformativeeffects of threesimple traits. Most people know Phil “Flip”Saunders as the longtime coachof the NBA’s MinnesotaTimberwolves. And with goodreason: Since taking overmidway through the 1995–1996season, he’s guided the team toa 386–300 record and multipleplayoff berths.

What a lot of people don’tknow, however, is that Saunders,’77 BSB, is also a Carlson Schoolalum. In August, he returned fora packed-house presentation aspart of the Carlson School’s FirstTuesday luncheon series. Histalk, “Committing to a WinningCulture,” detailed what he viewsas the key traits—loyalty,motivation, and chemistry—thathelped him build a winningculture and transform theformerly woeful Wolvesfranchise. The results certainlybear out his assessment: Theteam has made the playoffs foreight straight seasons, andnarrowly missed making it to theNBA Finals in 2004.

For information on futureFirst Tuesday events, see theEvent Calendar on the backpage of this issue or go towww.csom.umn.edu/page2066.aspx.

TuesdayTipoff

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Flip Saunders and a First Tuesdayevent attendee.

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Thanks to a new Carlson Schoolprogram, balancing MBAcoursework with the rest of astudent’s life will soon get a littleeasier. Oufreez Argenta, codirectorof the Carlson School’s new full-timeMBA diversity program, says that one of her objectives with theprogram is to demonstrate that it’s possible for students to balancepursuing an MBA with their other life goals.

The program’s other codirector, Mark Felton, ’90 MBA, echoesthose thoughts, noting that another key aim of the program is tosupport and promote diversity. Both Felton and Argenta add thatthey want to create communities that will serve the students intheir days at the Carlson School and long after. While Argentadirects her efforts toward women, Felton focuses on increasing

the presence of other underrepresented populations—includingAfrican American, Latino, and Native American students—in theMBA program. In one initiative, full-time MBA students can linkwith those in other Carlson School MBA programs, such asHuman Relations, to create larger, stronger support networks.

For more information, contact Argenta at 612-626-7407,oargenta@carlsonschool.umn.edu.

—Katy Holmgren

If there is such a thing as a typicalCarlson School alumnus career path,chances are good that William Gurstellehasn’t followed it.

Twenty years ago, Gurstellegraduated from the school with an MBAand joined Northwestern Bell (nowQwest). After working for that firm andother telecom companies inmanagement-type roles for much of thenext 15 years, he found his way into anew, more satisfying profession: best-selling author.

That’s where his story gets intriguing.His first book, Backyard Ballistics, wasthe definitive guide to building potatoguns, tennis ball cannons, fire kites, andsimilar devices from everyday materials.Published in 2001, the book sold morethan 100,000 copies (not bad for a first-time author), and gave Gurstelle aserious case of the writing bug. In theyears since, he’s written two otherbooks, Building Bots, (a guide todesigning and building mini-robots) andThe Art of the Catapult (a how-tomanual for aficionados of that medievalweapon of mass destruction). Along theway, he’s caught the attention of thenational media, and has been featuredin USA Today, Discover magazine, theNew York Times, and on National PublicRadio’s All Things Considered.

In a sense, Gurstelle’s two careersaren’t as far removed from each otheras they might seem, however. Inaddition to the Carlson School MBA, he

has a degree in mechanical engineeringfrom the University of Wisconsin-EauClaire, and is a self-described“inveterate tinkerer.” “My jobs in thetelecom field were always semi-technical in nature,” he notes. “I wasalways working on things in my sparetime, and technology has been a funpursuit to me. So I wrote a bookproposal for Backyard Ballistics and onething led to another. When the book gotpublished and the royalties startedcoming in, I decided to leave thecorporate world and become a full-timeauthor.”

He adds that his MBA is coming inhandy these days. As any author—particularly a full-time one—knows,publishing can be a challenging andoften ruthless line of work. Still,Gurstelle appears to be thriving. He’sgot more book ideas in the works and isshopping article ideas to magazineeditors. He’s also invented a burgeoningcareer for himself as a speaker andinstructor, offering seminars oneverything from the basics of bookpublishing to telecom-related topics toa workshop he calls “Radical Self-Expression Through Technology.”

Perhaps most importantly, heappears to have found the right nichefor himself. “I’m very happy with whatI’m doing right now,” he says. “As longas I can continue to make a living at it,I’ll keep doing it.”

—Chris Mikko

Chapter Two

William Gurstelle

William Gurstelle, ’84 MBA, hasfound an inventive new calling.

F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 9

CommonBondsA new Carlson Schoolinitiative helps MBAstudents find balancethrough community.

Mark Felton and Oufreez Argenta

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Last spring, Rebecca Bergnerlearned that she had been awardedone of the Carlson School’s highesthonors, the Tomato Can LovingCup, which is given each year to anundergraduate student whoperforms the “most distinctiveservice” to the institution. It was, asshe recalls, a sublime moment. “Itwas the shock of my life,” she says

with a laugh. “I mean, my jaw just dropped and I wanted toscream (but I couldn’t because I was in a dean’s office). Therewere so many other deserving candidates that I simplycouldn’t believe I had been chosen. It didn’t seem real—Iwalked around all day in disbelief!”

That sort of enthusiasm isn’t uncommon for Bergner, andperhaps helps explain why she won the award. The TomatoCan Loving Cup’s history stretches back to 1929, when a gradnamed Henry Hilton was given the first award, which consistedof an empty tomato soup can that had been nailed to acandleholder. Since then, the original, and increasingly ricketysoup can has been given each year to a deserving student.While Bergner had excellent grades, it was her long list ofextracurricular activities that pushed her to the top of the list.Throughout her college career she was an eager andunabashed volunteer, typically spending 10 hours per week working with such groups as the March of Dimes, a YMCA children’s

mentoring program, the Salvation Army, the Shrine Circus, the U of M student council, and numerous other organizations. Whilethat might seem like a heavy load for a full-time student, it doesn’tappear to have fazed Bergner. “I enjoyed all of it,” she says. “It reallyhelped me stay on task in the rest of my life.”

It’s also going to help her earn an MBA. In addition to the soupcan, award recipients get another significant benefit: a fullscholarship to the Carlson School’s MBA program. Bergner, whorecently started a consulting job with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu inMinneapolis, plans to work for three to five years and then return toschool. “I’m incredibly grateful,” she notes. “I got a great educationand worked with great professors at the Carlson School. The awardis just a wonderful way to end my undergraduate career.”

—Chris Mikko

It’ll come as no surprise to the colleagues and students who workwith them: Two mid-career Carlson School administrators havereceived accolades from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journalfor their service and far-reaching influence, while a past honoreewas recently promoted within the school.

Director of Marketing Jayne Jones is among the BusinessJournal’s annual Women in Business Women Changemakers Awardrecipients, and Carleen Kerttula, assistant dean of the Full-TimeMBA program, was named to the Journal’s much-anticipated “40Under 40” list. Mary Maus Kosir, a former Under 40 winner, becamethe assistant dean and director of the Carlson SchoolUndergraduate Studies Program in Management in January2004.

Each year, the Business Journal honors the achievements of 25

Atrium

A Full CupRebeccaBergner, ’04BSB,receivesby giving.

Left to right; CarleenKerttula, Jayne Jonesand Mary Maus Kosir

Ones to Watch Three of the Carlson School’s own are cited for superb leadership and service.

Rebecca Bergner

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Nineteen years after Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)took his four-month-old grandson’s life, Roger Carlson, ’54 BSB,bears a steadfast commitment to memorializing the child.“Scott probably would have been going to the University aboutnow,” says Carlson. “We try to remember him when we can, oneway or another.”

In spite of years of research, SIDS is still blanketed in mystery,causing unexpected, unexplained deaths in seemingly healthy

infants. According to theAmerican SIDS Institute, incidentsof SIDS have steadily droppedover the past 30 years.Nonetheless, in 2000, 6.2 infantsout of every 10,000 succumbed tothe syndrome.

Through support groups andtheological guidance, Carlson andhis family slowly recovered fromScott’s death. Since then, he hassought ways to recall hisgrandson and support researchinto SIDS prevention. Hecontributes to a University of

Wisconsin research group, and he and his wife, Lois Lehman,recently endowed the Scott Allan Carlson MemorialUndergraduate Scholarship. The scholarship is intended tosupport prospective undergraduate students who havedemonstrated strong academic promise but who lack themeans to pay for their education. Carlson’s contributions to theendowed scholarship fund will be automatically doubled thanksto a scholarship matching program at the University ofMinnesota.

By working to help students in need, Carlson is also tippinghis hat to his own background. He financed his Carlson Schooleducation by doing odd jobs throughout college. He worked onconstruction projects during the summer months, pumped gasor worked at a post office during the school year, and lived athis parents’ south Minneapolis home, commuting to campusevery day. He graduated in four years, but by living at homefeels he missed part of the collegiate experience of being an on-campus student.

After he graduated, Carlson built his career as an accountantwith several Twin Cities companies. “Eventually, we moved toRochester and I took a job at the Mayo Clinic,” he says, noting thatfor the next 23 years, he worked in various accounting andadministrative jobs. Then he and his two partners purchased a

large metal fabricating company through a leveraged buyout. Heretired 10 years ago.

Today he and Lois split their time between homes in South Ft.Myers, Fla., and the Twin Cities, where they spend time with theirtwo granddaughters. But they continue to pay homage to Scott’sunexpected and untimely death.

—Michael Weinbeck

Building HopeP

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women who spearhead initiatives and make decisions that changetheir businesses and communities. Jones, who came to the schoolfrom American Express in 2002, oversaw the Carlson School’s first-ever brand positioning initiative, uniting 22 separate units into acohesive, focused strategy for the school. In 2003, she also builtnational recognition for the Carlson School by launching its first-ever national print advertising campaign. “She has not only helpedto create a unified identity for our organization, but hasencouraged a collaborative, team-focused approach,” says CarlsonSchool Dean Larry Benveniste. “[Her] influence has been far-reaching and significant.”

Carleen Kerttula came to the Carlson School in 2000 as directorof the Graduate Business Career Center, after serving eight years inthe international sales and marketing division at the Toro Co. The40 Under 40 award citation notes her dedication to advocating forwomen in leadership roles, and her talent for guiding students andbuilding bridges between faculty and staff. “Taking an environmentin transition and giving it focus and getting people to worktogether are two of the most exceptional things she’s done,” saysBenveniste.

“The most difficult part of my [new] position is turning awayhundreds of top students every year because of the competitivenature of our undergraduate program,” says Kosir, who garnereda 40 Under 40 citation in 2002. She was named assistant deanand director of the undergraduate management program in late2003, after serving as director of international programs for theschool. “It is my distinct pleasure to work with students on a dailybasis, and to be closely involved in the future development of thisprestigious program,” she says.

Citing her decade with the school, the Business Journal hailedKosir’s considerable experience in international education,including a Fulbright Scholarship and a Fulbright TeachingFellowship. She has held positions with BMW, the National HigherEducation Council of Germany, and the Minnesota Private CollegeResearch Foundation.

Jones received her award at a July 22 luncheon in Minneapolis(to see the article on her, read the July 23, 2004, edition of theBusiness Journal). To read Kerttula’s full 40 Under 40 citation, seethe publication’s May 14, 2004, issue.

—Caitlin Kimball

F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 11

RogerCarlson’s lossleads himto inspire hopein today’sCarlson Schoolstudents.

Roger Carlson

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12 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

Alum’s gift helps maintainprogram’s strength. Steve Kumagai, ’70 BSB, ’74 MA-HRIR, has used his training fromthe Carlson School’s Industrial Relations Center to land the idealjob. After 18 years with American Express Financial Advisors—11 of them as senior vice president—he’s taken on a boutiquepractice that sees him advise about 100 of American Express’more important clients. “I like helping people manage theirfinances so they can achieve important priorities,” he says. “Ibelieve in the power of charitable giving and in helping peoplestretch their giving resources for the people and causes they love.”

That belief prompted Kumagai to make a commitment of hisown: He recently designated the University of Minnesota as thesecondary beneficiary of a substantial life insurance policy. Whenhe and his wife, Sarah, pass away, they want the proceeds to besplit between the Industrial Relations Center and the School ofMusic. He notes that this is a simple and usually affordable typeof gift that many baby boomers can make as they achieve theirgoals of educating their children and preparing for retirement.

Kumagai’s term at American Express began in humanresources and sales management. He also spent 11 years doingsimilar work at Control Data, and notes that the knowledge hegained at the Carlson School has supported him throughout hiscareer. His first jobs focused on compensation and benefits, andhe was later charged with selecting, training, and motivating salesemployees. With his current work helping manage retirementbenefits and executive compensation, his in-depth knowledge ofhuman resources has been crucial. “I could have chosen a numberof other ways to achieve success, but I enjoyed how I have doneit,” he says. “I am still challenged and have fun almost every day.”

He also remains devoted to the Industrial Relations Center,and encourages other alumni to include it in their giving, notingthat the program’s annual cost is increasing. “We risk appealingto only a fraction of the talent pool who can afford that kind ofinvestment,” he notes. “That will lower the quality of theeducation and ultimately the quality of the graduate.”

—Michael Weinbeck

Second Wind Some people retire to their favorite

armchairs or front-porch rockers.Bill Westhoff, ’74 MBA, retired to the

seat of his touring bike.

Bill Westhoff during a raremoment of rest on his

cross-country trek.

Steve Kumagai

Atrium

Planning Ahead

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By her own admission, Sarah Solfeltisn’t happy unless she has herschedule loaded with a whirlwind ofactivities, athletics, and of course,academics. Judging by heraccomplishments over the last threeyears, she also is the type of personwho strives to leave a lasting markon the organizations she getsinvolved with. The Universityrecently honored her efforts with theDonald R. Zander OutstandingStudent Leadership Award.

Zander Award candidates mustfirst apply for the President’sStudent Leadership and Service

Award; the top 10 recipients are then asked to interview for theZander Award, which is traditionally is given to one male and onefemale undergraduate to recognize their exceptional academicachievement, personal character, andoutstanding leadership and service ofinstitution-wide significance.

Solfelt, 22, certainly meets thosecriteria. She is captain of theUniversity of Minnesota varsitywomen’s swimming and diving team;a founding member and leader ofTruth in Business, a faith-basedbusiness student organization; a hallrepresentative in her dorm; and asenior athlete representative forMinnesota to USA Swimming (thegoverning body for the sport in the

United States). She manages all that while maintaining a 3.95 gradepoint average as a finance major.

“I love to give back to people and invest time in people’s lives,and I thrive in an environment where I can serve other people,”says Solfelt, a native of Eden Prairie, Minn. “With swimming andschool and Truth in Business, I want to leave a lasting impressionand make something better than when I found it.”

Solfelt applied those leadership skills with Truth in Business, aclub started by a handful of students in 2003 who wanted tocreate a forum outside of class for students to discuss businessethics and integrity in the workplace. Teaming up with theMacLaurin Institute, a Christian study center on the U of M campus,the organization helped plan a monthly lecture series called Faithin the Marketplace, which featured speakers from across thecountry. The organization also held weekly sessions, during whichstudents discussed various business ethics-related topics. Thisyear, Solfelt plans to develop a mentor program between Truth inBusiness and business people from the Twin Cities area.

—Suzy Frisch

Bill Westhoff, a former senior vice president for Minneapolis-basedAmerican Express Financial Advisors, recently wrapped up a two-year term as president of the American Lung Association (ALA) ofMinnesota’s board of directors. He concluded his ALA service byhopping on his bike for a coast-to-coast ride. “I thoroughly enjoybiking and I thought this would be a tremendous challenge,” heexplains.

On June 11, Westhoff and his riding companion, Bill Melton,another retired American Express officer, dipped their back tiresinto the frigid late-spring Pacific waters in Bayview, Wash., thenembarked on a multi-week trek through Washington, Idaho,Montana, North Dakota, and western Minnesota. When the duodismounted at Westhoff’s Annandale, Minn., lake home, they’dlogged 1,958 miles in 23 days.

“Our last day of riding was actually our best day—135 miles,”says Westhoff, who plans to do the second leg of the trip nextsummer. “Ultimately we want to finish in Maine and dip our fronttires in the ocean there.”

In truth, Westhoff, who celebrated his 57th birthday on the road,is anything but retired. After 26 years at American Express, hestarted his own investment-advising firm, Lakeview InvestmentPartners in Plymouth, Minn. He also serves as chairman of the

Carlson Funds Enterprise advisory board, which oversees theinvestment activity of the student-run Carlson Growth and CarlsonFixed Income funds. “I guess I just retired from one thing tosomething else,” he says. “[Investment management] is somethingI love doing—it’s a passion of mine.”

Westhoff credits the ALA with stoking his more recent passionfor pedaling. In the late 1980s, he took part in his first Great RiverRide, a three-day, 150-mile trek through southeastern Minnesota.The event is an ALA-sponsored fundraiser. “I found it to be veryenjoyable,” he says. “It was physically challenging, and at the end ofthe day I felt like I’d really accomplished something.”

So as Westhoff planned his own cross-country ride, he decidedto use it as an opportunity to raise funds for the organization thatinspired him. Initially, he hoped to raise $8,000 for the ALA; so far,he’s raised more than $12,000, including $5,000 in matching fundsfrom Lakeview Investment Advisors.

Having surpassed his fundraising goals, Westhoff is determinedto achieve his personal goal. “So many people have said, ‘You cando it,’ and signed up to support me financially,” he says. “I’ll bedarned if I’m going to disappoint them.”

—Andrew Bacskai

Carlson Schoolsenior SarahSolfelt keepsup a freneticpace—andworks to leavea lastingimpression.

Sarah Solfelt makes waves.

Life in the Fast Lane

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How real is theglass ceiling?How do youaccomplish workand life balance?What is theoutlook forwomen in thebusiness world?

With those and otherquestions in mind,

Carlson School gathereda handful of women

graduates andbusiness people for a

wide-ranging roundtablediscussion held

Aug. 9, 2004, in the Carlson School

Boardroom.

14 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

omenWomenW

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F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 15

n atWorkatWorkEDITED BY CHRIS MIKKO AND SARA GILBERT I PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK LUINENBURG

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TODAY’S BUSINESS WORLD

OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN

Lisa Ferris: How would each of youcharacterize the outlook for women inbusiness today?Ann Boyd: The fact that many womenhave started their own businesses inrecent years—and that they are so good atit—speaks well that they’re not going totake a lot of the stuff women have taken inthe past. It’s also good because peoplecan’t take for granted that women don’thave any choice but to work for majorcorporations. Deborah Cundy: I’m a little lessoptimistic for women in corporate life,because of the glass ceiling. Less than twopercent of all CEOs of Fortune 500companies are women; 13 percent of allboard seats are held by women. Susan Malaret: I was at a corporation for12 years, and I saw a generational shiftoccurring. For women in my generationand in the generation behind me, somebarriers are breaking down. There’s still aglass ceiling, but things should be easier inthe future. Joan Smith: When I started out [in 1959],I interviewed at the investmentdepartment at a bank. The personnel mansaid they didn’t want me in thedepartment because they didn’t wantwomen. I told him I could run circlesaround half the men in the department.Lisa Ferris: Did you get the job?Joan Smith: Yes. I put my foot in the doorand they couldn’t get it out. But eventhough I had a master’s degree, I was onlygiven statistical work to do at first. Then afellow who did municipal bonds passedaway, and I got his job. I didn’t really wantmunicipals, but thought I’d better try it.Lisa Ferris: Was it a more favorableenvironment as time went by? Did you seeany noticeable changes?Joan Smith: Well, I was there 30 years,and I still fought the men all the way.There weren’t too many changes. The[majority of the people in thedepartment] were—and still are—men.Lisa Ferris: Would you attribute that tomen making the hiring decisions, orwomen not being interested in that area?Joan Smith: When I first started out, I wasthe only woman. But it seems like morewomen are interested now than they were.

They just hadn’t been exposed to it before.Christine Larsen: I work in manufacturingand distribution, and most of our peoplehave technical degrees and chemicalengineering backgrounds. The sky’s thelimit for women interested in those jobs.Some of our best people in managementand executive positions are women. Ourchallenge is to get and keep them. A lot ofcompanies are finding the same thing. Tiffany Zitzewitz: I was with AllinaHealth Systems, and when I got there, allthe CEOs at Twin Cities metro-areahospitals were men; when I left, all theCEOs at the metro hospitals were women.Some of that is because more women arebecoming physicians and nurses and thenmoving into leadership roles. Lisa Ferris: I’ve had great opportunitiesat my firm [RBC Dain Rauscher], andI haven’t been confined to only mydiscipline, which is finance. That comesfrom the CEO—he was a real leader interms of promoting women. I recentlyasked a man I work with who heads up ourretail division if there’s a glass ceiling. Hesaid, “You know, I’d put women in regionaljobs, but there’s a lack of a talent pool.”The area hasn’t been attractive to women.About 13 percent of our brokers orfinancial consultants are women. It willtake time to build that talent pool.

ON WOMEN ENTERING

THE BUSINESS WORLD

Deborah Cundy: What do we do aboutthe pipeline issue, about women goinginto business? Some studies even indicate

16 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

Lisa Ferris

WHO’S WHONow retired, Ann Boyd, ’98 MBA, workedin consulting for both Accenture (1985-1991) and Wells Fargo (1991-1998).She currently performs in communitytheatres and is doing her first show thisyear. She is also a certified life coach anda professional speaker.

Deborah Cundy is the founder andpresident of Envoy CommunicationsGroup, a Twin Cities firm that providesmarketing, communications, and publicaffairs consulting services for corporationsand nonprofit organizations. Prior tostarting Envoy, she was vice president ofglobal communications for Minnetonka,Minn.-based Carlson Companies.

Karen Donohue is an associate professorof operations and management science atthe University of Minnesota. She joined theCarlson School in 2000, after spending sixyears on the faculty at the Wharton Schoolat the University of Pennsylvania.Donohue, who earned a PhD in IndustrialEngineering from Northwestern Universityin 1993, focuses her research on the designand analysis of manufacturing systems andmechanisms for coordinating production,distribution, and sales decisions acrosssupply chains.

Lisa Ferris, ’85 BSB, is COO ofMinneapolis-based RBC Dain Rauscher,and has management responsibility for allof the company’s service and operationalgroups. Ferris, who joined Dain in 1993 as asenior financial analyst, has also served asthe firm’s CFO. Prior to joining Dain, shewas controller of a division of CarlsonMarketing Group in Minneapolis.

Christine Larsen, ’90 MAIR, is vicepresident of Shared Services GlobalOperations for Ecolab, the St. Paul, Minn.-based provider of cleaning and sanitizingproducts. She has been with the companysince 1992. Prior to joining Ecolab, sheworked as an employee relations associateat Ford Motor Co. and as a projectmanager at Lakewood Publications inMinneapolis.

Susan Malaret, ’04 MBA, is a seniorproject manager for NorthstarNeuroscience, a Seattle-based medicaldevice firm. She spends most of her timeworking on strategic planning, marketdevelopment, and communicationsstrategies. Before joining Northstar, shespent several years at Minneapolis-basedMedtronic Inc.

Joan T. Smith, ’59 MBA, spent her careerin the Trust Investment Division at NorwestBank (now Wells Fargo). When she retiredfrom the firm, she was a vice president—the division’s first female vice president.

Tiffany Zitzewitz, ’95 MHA, is vicepresident of Administrative Services forMemorial Blood Centers, a nonprofitcommunity blood center that suppliesblood and blood components to hospitalsin the Twin Cities, northern Minnesota, andnorthwestern Wisconsin. Zitzewitz hasspent her career in the health careindustry, including positions at AllinaHealth Systems, Abbott NorthwesternHospital, and St. Francis Regional MedicalCenter, where she was the vice presidentof strategic services.

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that young girls are not interested inbusiness, per se.Ann Boyd: There needs to be somecreativity to make [business] jobsattractive. People think you sit at yourdesk and crunch numbers all day, whenthere’s actually a lot of personalrelationship-building, and managementand development of people. Women tendto be good at that. But that’s not howpeople perceive business jobs. Christine Larsen: A lot of it is getting agood fit. The company I’m at now isterrific, but at a couple of places I workedat before, the fact that I didn’t change myname when I got married created so muchdiscussion, you wouldn’t believe it. Mycurrent company is more accepting ofdifferent types of people—men orwomen. I’ve been more successful herethan I would have been at other placesbecause of that.Karen Donohue: At the MBA level, one-third of all applicants have consistentlybeen women. But this year we’re a littlebit down, maybe in the 20 percent range.

One hypothesis is that the [desire toreturn for an MBA] tends to come at atime in a woman’s life, usually in the late20s or early 30s, which can be an awkwardtime in terms of your biological clock. I’mcurious to hear your perspective aboutwhy more men than women are goingafter this degree.Susan Malaret: The average age of theMBA students in my class was about 29.So the issue of the biological clock plays

into things. But what’s also interesting isthat there is a much higher percentage ofwomen in the night school program thanin the day school program. Tiffany Zitzewitz: The pipeline issue isabout more than just education, it’s whathappens after you get the education. Itseems to me that the country is goingback to a family-values type of mentality.Of my women colleagues and my friendsin their 30s, few are in full-time, two-career households. I’m an anomaly. Ibelieve that more women are choosing tostay home, or choosing alternate careerswith more flexibility. That affects thepipeline of applicants and candidates. Lisa Ferris: It might also explain whymore women are starting their ownbusinesses. When I worked for anengineering company, I was turned downfor a position I was completely qualifiedfor. Management told me they werebringing in an outside person with anMBA. I decided it would be the last job Ididn’t get because I didn’t have an MBA.So I started the program that fall. I’mthankful I did because it was the best partof my education. Deborah Cundy: Are MBAs as valued bycompanies as they once were, or are weseeing a decrease in value? Susan Malaret: My perspective is that anMBA is becoming more of a box to checkoff. Do companies really value what youlearned? I’m not sure. But when it comesdown to a close race between someonewith an MBA and someone without one,it’s an easy excuse to not hire the personwithout it. Christine Larsen: In the dual-careerfamilies I know where one person hasdecided to stay home, it’s almost alwaysthe woman. Is that because the male inthe family has the better career path, or isit because he feels like he can’t [stayhome]?Susan Malaret: I did a research projectabout the low enrollment of women inMBAs, and why a lot of high school girlsdidn’t want to go into business. Theytalked about the impression of businessbeing supercompetitive. And they didn’twant to deal with that, didn’t want to haveto claw their way to the top. Ann Boyd: Do you know where thatperception came from?Susan Malaret: The only thing I came

across was a lack of female role models.There are a lot of women in medicalschool and law school, but there aren’t alot of female business people to establish apositive role model for young girls. Ann Boyd: With a lot of these jobs, ifyou’re going to get to the “top,” it takes alot of hours, and your life is unbalanced. Alot of men and women say, “That’s notwhat I want.” Tiffany Zitzewitz: We have two smallchildren, and we often talk about howinsane our life is and how we might findmore balance. It would be difficult for myhusband to stay home or cut back on hiswork hours, because of the perception.

Christine Larsen: Maybe it’s because it’smore acceptable in corporate America forwomen to take two, three, or five yearsoff; it’s not necessarily acceptable for mento do that.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Lisa Ferris: By some estimates, women areleaving corporate positions at anaccelerated rate. Why? Ann Boyd: We’re getting tired of thebumps on our heads. Karen Donohue: It gets back to thebalance issues. The difference betweenworking 12 hours a day and eight hours aday is family balance. I work in academia,and it’s the same there. To become thelead scholar in a particular area, you work12 or 16 hours a day. I hate to think ofsuccess only being defined as being on aboard or being a Rhodes Scholar. There

F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 17

Ann Boyd

Tiffany Zitzewitz

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are other definitions of success—volunteering on a school board, having acreative job, and a good family life.

Ann Boyd: What would you say is an MBAschool’s role in helping broaden thatdefinition?

Karen Donohue: A number of things canbe done. Number one is to provideresources to help think about these issues.And role models can have a big impact.What kind of resources do you thinkwould be helpful?

Ann Boyd: I don’t know, I’m balanced.

Karen Donohue: How did you get there?

Ann Boyd: Well, I retired. But even whenI was working, I was always doingvolunteer work, staying in touch with myfriends, doing some theatre work. But itwas hard. There were times when I wasworking 60 hours a week and the rest ofthe time I was on call.

Lisa Ferris: How have people around thetable approached work/life balance?

Tiffany Zitzewitz: I get as much help as Ican at home. I have a cleaning lady. I havesomeone who comes three days a weekand takes care of my kids. I delegate asmuch as possible at work. I’m also fullyconnected at home. I’ll work at night andon weekends, but I’ll also leave and go toan event at my son’s school. But thathasn’t always been the case. I rememberfeeling guilty if I had to leave before 6p.m.—I would sneak out of the office topick up my son from daycare. People stillfocus on how many hours you’re actuallyat the office, and it shouldn’t be that way

anymore. I can work 60 hours a week andbe at my son’s school in the middle of theday. And I try to keep reminding myselfit’s OK when I do that. Ann Boyd: I commend you for doing that.There’s too much emphasis put on facetime. When I was at work, I didn’t do a lotof socializing. But there were people whospent an hour a day telling everybody howbusy they were. Joan Smith: I always took three weeks ofvacation and forgot about everything.That would help me renew myself. Lisa Ferris: It’s important to encouragepeople to check out completely when onvacation. Tiffany Zitzewitz: I don’t think that that’sthe norm anymore, because we are soconnected. Even if you’re on vacationyou’re expected to get your messages.

Christine Larsen: A lot of the peopleworking extra hours have stay-at-homespouses, so they can put in more time. Iremember traveling once before Christmasand saying, “Oh no, it’s right beforeChristmas.” My coworkers were like,“What’s the problem?” But they didn’tshop, they didn’t make cookies. They hadsomeone at home full-time to do that. Susan Malaret: Here’s a statistic that Ibelieve came from an early 2000s study ofworking couples: Only 15 percent of menin dual-income homes do householdchores on a regular basis. So either [thecouple] had a cleaning lady or else thewoman did the rest.

Tiffany Zitzewitz: It’s hard for men too.My husband gets shocked looks from hiscoworkers when he has to leave the officeto pick up a sick child from daycare.Ann Boyd: That’s true. We talk about thethings that women have had to go throughand the things we’ve had to give up, butwhenever one group is bound by astereotype, the other group is bound by astereotype too. So everyone is losing out,and that’s sad.

THE GLASS CEILING

Lisa Ferris: Shifting gears a bit, how haveyou dealt with the glass ceiling if you’verun into it? Also, have you ever feltdiscriminated against at work, and howhave you dealt with it?

Ann Boyd: My husband and I started [asconsultants] at the same company aboutthree months apart. Over the years, hispay raises were bigger than mine. And hegot promoted before me at a higher salary.What bothered me about this was that, asa consultant, billable hours are important.I was over 100 percent billableconsistently from the second month Istarted. He was at about 50 percent. Ouroverall evaluations were similar. I alsomanaged a lot more people, and had moreclient involvement. Why was he makingmore money than me?

Joan Smith: I was the only woman in mydepartment and it took me seven years tobe an officer. I worked with one fellowwho was made an officer in two years. (Healso ended up as president of thecorporation, but was incompetent andwas asked to leave.) Everyone else got tobe a vice president and I was not. Andthen I got a new boss and he got me thevice president’s job because he knew whatI was doing. And when I left, they hiredthree people to take my job.

Deborah Cundy: We’ll know we’vereached equality when there are as manymediocre women in high positions asthere are mediocre men in high positions.

Joan Smith: I used to say you had to looklike a girl, act like a lady, think like a man,and work like a dog to go half as far as anymediocre man. They got mad when I saidthat. But it’s true.

Susan Malaret: I’ve seen that a strongmentor has helped people break into thatnext sphere. But it’s often difficult for

18 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

Christine Larsen

Karen Donohue

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women to have mentor relationships,because there aren’t many women inupper management who understand whatwe’re going through. Lisa Ferris: My experience has been prettyevenly split between having men andwomen mentors. Sometimes, men couldprovide me with some observations thathelped me understand how I came across,and how men perceived it. A man can getby with things that a woman can’t. Icertainly can’t pound my fist on a tableand scream about something I feelpassionate about—it would be consideredinappropriate. If one of my malecounterparts did that, the perceptionwould be, well, he’s just pretty passionateabout the issue.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Again, I’d like to shift gears a bit. Whathave been the key or keys to your success,and how can other women capitalize onthe success you’ve experienced?

Susan Malaret: Taking chances andseeking opportunities, instead of waitingfor people to come to me withopportunities. Deborah Cundy: For me, one of the thingshas been to not be very rigid. Some doorshave opened that would not have if I hadbeen focused on one path only—I need toget a certain title by a certain age, make acertain salary, or be in a certain industry.Be well prepared, have a bit of a plan, butalso trust yourself a bit.

Christine Larsen: The experience ofworking for small and large companies hasbeen important. You get a differentperspective when you work at an officewith five people in it versus a companywith 200,000 or more.

Joan Smith: I was happy that I earned myMBA, but I had to be very flexible. I didwhatever [management] told me, and Ididn’t make a fuss about it. That’s why Iended up where I did.

Tiffany Zitzewitz: I’ve pursuedopportunities that have been a stretch. Idoubted that I could do some of them butI decided to anyway. And I was supportedin doing so by strong mentorrelationships.

Christine Larsen: And along with that,taking responsibilities that are outsideyour area of functional expertise oreducation is a wonderful thing.

Karen Donohue: I’ve been fortunate tohave great mentors. I am in a field wherethere are few women; I could count on myhands the number of women who are fullprofessors in this field. But several ofthem looked out for me and some otherwomen I know.

Lisa Ferris: For me, it’s been finding theright fit. I worked at a couple of othercompanies before my current firm. Thereal keys are working with people I enjoy,doing work I love, and working withclients I like. When you have all of those,opportunities present themselves, and youare prepared because you like going towork and you like what you do.

Ann Boyd: One thing that helps you besuccessful is to be proactive about yourjob. If you realize that a job description isjust a starting point, you can make the jobwhat you want it to be. Also, for me, it’sgetting joy out of other people’s success.There aren’t many jobs these days whereyou’re not working in a department or ateam environment; if you’re one of thosepeople who wants it to be all about you,you won’t be happy, because it never willbe all about you. There is a lot ofsatisfaction in seeing people develop andgrow. Also, don’t think learning stops justbecause you got an MBA.

Lisa Ferris: In closing, is there any otherpiece of advice you’d like to offer?

Susan Malaret: When I was stuck in mycareer path earlier, I wish I had put more

effort and focus into networking. I lookback on some lost opportunities forcreating a much richer network that couldhave taken me, say, on an entrepreneurialpath or in a more fulfilling directionearlier.Ann Boyd: That’s a good point.Networking has actually helped me a lotmore since I retired than it did when I wasworking. I went into the technical field tomake money, not because it was mypassion. But the things I’ve done since[retiring] have been a lot more fulfillingand rewarding—and the networking hasbeen easy. Maybe that’s a clue that youmay not be in your niche, whennetworking feels like work.

Chris Mikko is the editor of Carlson School.Sara Gilbert is a Mankato, Minn.-based writer.

F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 19

Deborah Cundy

Joan Smith

Susan Malaret

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20 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

A trio of Carlson School faculty researchers offers insight into the unique issues

women face in the workplace.

By Sara Gilbert I Photographs by Dan Marshall

Joan Meyers-Levy gets plenty of knowing nods when she presents her research. The CarlsonSchool professor of marketing and logistics management says that the conclusions sheoffers about the different ways men and women think often elicit empathetic commentsfrom those in the audience. “It’s interesting when I talk to people about this,” she notes.“I’ve done presentations where women will come up to me and say, ‘Oh, that explainswhy my husband is always doing this.’ I hear all kinds of anecdotes from women.”

Other Carlson School faculty members get similar responses to their research into theissues women face in the workplace. From sexual harassment to salary negotiations, manywomen have stories that support the findings. But while that anecdotal evidence is inmany ways reassuring, it can also be somewhat disheartening to women eager for a changein the business environment.

When Pri Shah, an associate professor of strategic management and organization,warned women at a workshop at Northwestern University to be aware of questions aboutmarriage and children during job interviews, someone immediately said that peopleshould know better than to ask questions like that. Such queries are, after all, illegal. “Butseveral women in the room raised their hands and said that it indeed does happen,” Shahsays. “It happens all the time.”

Theresa Glomb gets the same reaction when she talks about her research on thepervasiveness of sexual harassment and its effects on women in the workplace. “One ofthe comments I often hear is, ‘Why don’t people get it yet?’” says Glomb, an assistantprofessor in the Carlson School’s Industrial Relations Center. “They can’t believe itstill happens so much.”

WorksinProgress

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PRI SHAH: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF NEGOTIATION

Although Pri Shah focuses most of her research efforts on theinteractions of groups and networks, she has a great love for theart of negotiation. And when she recently covered the topic ofgender differences in interviews and negotiations for a seminar,she found herself immersed in some enlightening information. “Ifound that there are some specific things that women need tokeep in mind during interviews and negotiations,” she says.“There are different concerns for women; dual-career issues, forexample, are more prevalent for women than for men.”

While asking about a woman’s marital status or the number ofchildren she has is illegal, that doesn’t stop it from happening.“Often, it isn’t meant to be discriminatory,” Shah says. “It’ll just bea way to start a conversation. People ask if you’re married, if youplan to have children—they slip those questions intoconversations innocuously.”

But what happens because of those conversations isn’t alwaysso innocuous. Subtle discrimination occurs when employers hearthat a young woman may start a family soon, or that she already

has children at home. “People assume that when children are inthe picture, a woman’s career will take the back seat, that she willbe the one to make the sacrifices,” Shah explains. “Then theywonder if they want to hire that person. And that is illegal.”

Shah argues that the law isn’t the most effective way of dealingwith these situations. “Filing charges is really not worth it,” shesays. “It’s tricky to prove. It takes too much energy to go throughthat.”

The better course of action, she notes, is to address the matteras it comes up in conversation. But how you handle that can makeor break the outcome. “Some people will address it straight on

F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 21

above: Joan Meyers-Levy

“In guiding people in whatever their jobs may be,managers should be aware that men and women willwant different kinds of direction about what to do,how to do it, and what is expected of them.”

243675_guts 10/15/04 12:30 PM Page 21

and say, ‘This is illegal, you can’t ask me that,’” she explains. “But ifyou do that, you might say it out of anger or in an inappropriatetone that puts the other person on the defensive.

“What works for me,” she adds, “is to use humor. The bestthing to do is to try to make a joke. Or ask it back to them. Thenthey might realize that it’s inappropriate and stop.”

Although those questions come up most in interviews, Shahsays that gender and family roles also factor into play during salarynegotiations. On those occasions, the subject often can benefitthe employee. “Women with small children will negotiate to getmore time with their kids,” she says. “Their priority is not a highsalary, but a more flexible schedule. They’re willing to foregosalary and benefits to get that.”

THERESA GLOMB: UNCOVERING HARASSMENT

The fact that sexual harassment does indeed happen so much iswhat keeps Glomb interested in the topic. She first startedstudying the subject while doing her doctoral work at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which has a largesexual harassment research lab. “I guess I just fell into it there,”she says. “But my interest was sustained by continuing to talk topeople about harassment.”

Then, in the course of doing her research, she was surprised todiscover that between 40 and 60 percent of all women report thatsome sort of harassing behavior—everything from inappropriateremarks, unwanted attention, or generally inappropriatebehavior—happens at work. Even more surprising, however, was

the number of those same women whofelt they weren’t actually being harassed.“Most women expect this,” Glomb says.“When they’re asked on a survey if any ofthese behaviors happen, they say yes;when they’re asked if they think they’vebeen harassed, they say no.”

The problem, Glomb says, is that thenegative outcomes are the same whetheror not a person thinks an incident isactually at the level of harassment. Thesame holds true for individuals whoexperience “ambient” sexualharassment—indirect exposure tosomeone else being harassed. “Even ifyou’re not being harassed, but someonearound you is, you experience negativeoutcomes,” Glomb explains. “There areseveral reasons for that. It could be fearthat it might happen to you too. It couldbe that it’s generally a bad place to work.

It could be any number of things.” Whatever the reason, the results are often the same: general

job dissatisfaction; organizational withdrawal, either actuallyleaving the job or finding ways to withdraw while on the job(taking longer breaks, perhaps, or arriving late, leaving early, andmissing meetings); personal health problems, includingheadaches, sleeplessness, and stomach problems; and a lack ofgeneral psychological well-being.

If sexual harassment is wreaking such havoc in so many lives,why is it allowed to continue? One reason, Glomb says, is thatwomen still tend to think of harassment in only its most egregiousforms. “People tend to think about the most extreme forms ofsexual harassment, the quid-pro-quo situations where someone isexpected to sleep with a boss in order to get a promotion,” shenotes. “But those are not the most common occurrences of sexualharassment. More often, it’s a set of less extreme behaviors thatdon’t necessarily get attended to. And there’s a large cost for awoman to report sexual harassment. Either nothing happens at allor she feels retaliated against, and then she’s not likely to report itagain.”

That’s exactly what makes studying harassment so challengingfor people such as Glomb. “It’s a very difficult subject toresearch,” she admits. “We say, ‘Let me visit your company to dosurveys and have people tell me if they’re being harassed.’ You canimagine that we’re not necessarily very well received.”

Businesses that have had to deal with sexual harassmentproblems are in fact the most likely to welcome researchers. “A lotof companies seek out opportunities for research after they’vehad a problem,” Glomb says. “That makes me hopeful that theyreally do want to reduce harassment.”

JOAN MEYERS-LEVY: BRIDGING THE GREAT DIVIDE

Salary negotiations are only one of the areas where men andwomen proceed differently. According to Joan Meyers-Levy,whose research compares the way the genders processinformation differently, male and female brains handle all sorts of

22 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

above: Theresa Glomb

“There’s a large cost for a woman to report sexualharassment. Either nothing happens at all or shefeels retaliated against, and then she’s not likelytoreport it again.”

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information in their own unique manners. “The basic thesis isthat men tend to process information less completely thanwomen do. They tend to focus on a portion or a subset of theinformation provided,” she explains. “Women will attempt toprocess more, if not all of the information; a woman’s judgmentsand decisions will be based on more of the information.”

Most of Meyers-Levy’s work has been related to marketing.Advertisements meant for men, she asserts, often offer a singleclaim about a certain product. Those for women, meanwhile,present more—and more complex—information.“Take a productsuch as shampoo, which can be marketed to both men andwomen,” she explains. “In an ad that targets women, you’ll seeinformation about all the various scents and the differentformulations. You’ll see more about the product’s finedistinctions, about what it can do specifically for fine, dry, oily, orshiny hair. But then you take an ad for a product like Prell, whichis what I have seen ads for in men’s magazines. All itsays is that it will clean your hair. That’s it.”

The point, Meyers-Levy says, is that marketersneed to know their audience when deciding how muchinformation to include in an advertisement. Thattheory is easily transferable to the workplace, sheadds. “In guiding people in whatever their jobs may be,managers should be aware that men and women willwant different kinds of direction about what to do,how to do it, and what is expected of them,” sheexplains. “Women will want all the details spelled outand will seek a lot more feedback. But for men, justgive them the nuts and bolts and let them fly with it. Itsort of corresponds to the old adage that men don’task for directions.”

Men who didn’t ask for directions helped spur herinto this line of work, Meyers-Levy adds. “It all startedwhen I began observing the differences betweenwomen and their spouses,” she says. “I kept noticingthese differences, and how it was frustrating at timesthat we seem to perceive the world in such differentways. It piqued my interest and made me want tofigure out what was going on.”

And although she’s been able to prove that, indeed,men and women do process information differently,the answer as to why is still unsolved. “There are avariety of possibilities, and it’s probably a little bit ofall of them,” she says.

Some theories posit that the differences areevolutionary. Early women had to take care of the kids,tend to the home front, pick berries, and forage for

firewood; the men, meanwhile, had a single task: hunt for dinner.Another theory is that it’s a function of the way boys and girls aresocialized as children. Girls are generally put in high-structuresettings and given more instruction, more specific information,and more feedback; boys, on the other hand, often are put in low-structure situations where they aren’t always told exactly what todo. Their instinct, then, is to seize on what is most salient and gowith that. Yet another possibility is a difference in brain structurethat creates more of a connection between hemispheres inwomen as opposed to men.

The real cause of the differences, Meyers-Levy says, may be acombination of all of those factors. But she doesn’t expectanyone, male or female, to settle the matter anytime soon. “Ithink people will argue indefinitely about what it is,” she notes.

Sara Gilbert is a Mankato, Minn.-based freelance writer.

right: Pri Shah

“People assume that when children are in thepicture, a woman’s career will take the backseat, that she will be the one to make thesacrifices. Then they wonder if they want tohire that person. And that is illegal.”

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24 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

POWER SELLING:

The presidential election is morethan an exercise in democracy. It’s evolved into an astonishinglyexpensive and sophisticatedmarketing campaign. Is it money well-spent?

rom the face of it, the efforts resemble those of a typicalmarketing effort. Brand consultants weigh in with high-minded strategic advice. Focus groups offer insight intoconsumer attitudes. Well-orchestrated advertising programstarget individual customer niches. Sales reps armed withPalm Pilots and Web-based tools search out consumers forface-to-face presentations. This is no run-of-the-millconsumer product rollout, however. It’s national politics inthe age of the Internet and high-tech, high-touch marketing.

B Y M A R Y L A H R S C H I E R I P H O T O G R A P H S B Y DA N M A R S H A L L

F

THEMARKETING OF THE2004PRESIDENTIALRACE

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F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 25

President George W. Bush and Democratic candidate andU.S. Senator John Kerry, along with their parties, interestgroups, and organizations are now in the midst of a campaignprocess that many observers believe will herald a massivechange in political strategies. Over the past several decades,television advertising has been the primary marketingweapon for campaigns. The striking, negative ad—think of ahelmeted Michael Dukakis riding in a tank or of the sinisterimage of Willie Horton—was seen as the best way to movemillions of voters. While television viewers are still beingbombarded with ads, the campaigns also are relying on moresophisticated approaches that borrow tactics straight fromthe corporate world. The campaigns have mined databases,built individual voter profiles, and custom-tailored pitches.They’re using the Web in new and high-profile ways (the

newyorktimes.com homepage, for instance, has featured aKerry/Edwards donation ad smack in the middle of the day’sheadlines).

They’ve also mobilized armies of paid and unpaid workers,most of whom are working to spread key messages on thecandidates. By the time the process ends, they will have spenthundreds of millions of dollars, and also undoubtedly willhave set new records for campaign spending.

Several factors will influence the candidates’ marketingstrategies this fall, including an increasingly divided,distrustful, and distracted electorate and changes incampaign finance laws that cap advertising expenditures butallow nearly unlimited giving and spending by special interestgroups for get-out-the-vote efforts. Coupled withtechnological advances that make it easier to design and

Pat Hanlon

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26 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

Sound AdviceWHAT MARKETING CHALLENGESdo George Bush and John Kerry face inthis election and how should theyovercome them? We asked several CarlsonSchool marketing experts for advice theywould offer to the candidates.

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“Kerry should spend less moneyonadvertising and moreon getting outthe vote. His ads should emphasize hisheroism, because he really was ahero—the man has shrapnel in hisbody. The campaign shouldemphasize themes such as courage,judgment, and trust. Bush shouldemphasize security, the idea thatRepublicans will keep you safe. Thatmay be his most compelling argumentfor fence-sitters.”

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“Kerry should stay the positive course.He does not want to do anything todepress his voter turnout. He needstofigure out which issues are salienttoswing voters and build his campaignaround those. Bush should avoid over-the-top negativity.”

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“The key question is what will bethedeciding issue for voters: the warinIraq or the economy? Kerry can doMonday-morning quarterbackingonthose issues. But he’s not a verycharismatic communicator.Ofcourse, neither is Bush.”

—M.L.S.

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deliver marketing messages on the individualvoter level, this year’s presidential campaign isproving to be relentless.

“The major difference in this election is theamount of time, effort, and money that is goinginto identifying voters and turning them out,”says Sarah Janacek, ’84 CLA, ’89 JD, publisher ofthe Politics in Minnesota Directory and a long-timeTwin Cities-area Republican political consultantand commentator.

“My take-away from this campaign is gruntwork,” echoes Professor Akshay Rao, chair of theCarlson School’s marketing department. Anexpert in consumer psychology, Rao also ispolitically active and is a member of John Kerry’sMinnesota finance committee, which has raisedmore than $1.5 million for the Kerry campaign.“You’ve got to take the time to do the grunt workof getting to know who your people are andgetting them to the polls.”

Who are my customers?

Like any good marketer, the Bush and Kerrystrategists have relied on extensive research toidentify the customers—i.e., voters—most likelyto go their way. Traditionally, only about half of alleligible voters cast a ballot in a presidentialelection, says Larry Jacobs, a McKnight LandGrant Professor of Political Science at theUniversity of Minnesota, and director of theElection 2004 Project at the Humphrey Instituteof Public Affairs. Those who stay at home tend tobe young and distrustful of government, which iswhy candidates tend to focus on older voters,talking more about providing prescription drugbenefits than reforming the Social Securitysystem. In addition, about 25 percent of thosewho do vote are “in and out” of any singleelection—they vote sometimes but notconsistently, and tend to feel little allegiance toeither party. In contrast, regular voters tend tohave established political views and cast theirballots for the same party most of the time. Asthe 2000 election showed, this group is nearlyevenly divided between Democrats andRepublicans. Few voters—estimates run as low as7 percent and as high as 15 percent—aregenuinely undecided or independent.

“So your basic marketing approach is reallypitched at 10 to 15 percent of the electorate,”Jacobs says. “They tend to be the people who

have a lot of things going on in their lives, andpolitics is not a high priority among them.”

In addition to being distracted, the groupdoesn’t respond to a single message or issue,Jacobs adds, so candidates must “narrowcast”their messages. “Political messages tend to begeared to very segmented audiences,” he says.“Often candidates are looking at slivers of theelectorate.”

For instance, vice presidential choices mayhave nothing to do with the general appeal of thevice presidential candidate. “Dick Cheney is notvery popular with the public at large. But withcertain groups—business groups, culturalconservatives—he can enter a room like Caesarreturning to Rome,” says Jacobs.

Similarly, Kerry chose South Carolina SenatorJohn Edwards as his running mate in part becausehe appeals to white men, particularly in theSouth, a group that Democrats have lost groundwith in recent years.

This year, both parties appear to believe thatreaching voters and finding the messages thatappeal to them as individuals requires a “salesforce” approach. Recent changes in politicalfunding laws have given campaigns the ability togather that force in a much more organizedfashion. Campaign finance reform after the 2000election created “527 organizations,” named afterthe section of the tax code that defines them.These groups can raise unlimited amounts ofmoney to spend on political purposes, andindividuals can give them unlimitedcontributions. For instance, financier GeorgeSoros had given nearly $7 million to AmericansComing Together (ACT, a Democratic 527committee) by mid-July. Singer BruceSpringsteen gave the profits from a summerconcert tour to the same group. These and otherlike-minded organizations such as Moveon.organd the Media Fund are putting paid,technologically equipped canvassers intoneighborhoods where they will identify likelyDemocratic voters. This past summer, ACT saidit had 1,400 paid canvassers working in 17 swingstates. Once likely voters are identified, they willbe contacted repeatedly in person and on thephone about issues that interest them. ACTcanvassers use Palm Pilots and a Web-based datacollection system to keep track of the individualvoters and the issues they care about.

F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 27

“The major difference in this election is the amount of time,effort, and money that is going into identifying voters andturning them out.” —SARAH JANACEK, ’84 CLA, ’89 JD

Akshay Rao

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“When the market is saturated, the only way you can growyour market share is by taking from the other guy—or byexpanding the market; here are 120 million potential newcustomers who did not vote in the last election,” says Rao,adding that these former nonvoters can be motivated to turnout and swing the election to Kerry.

Branding and advertising

Does the new focus on getting out the vote mean fewerpolitical ads will air this fall? No such luck. In April, theAmerican Association of Advertising Agencies warned itsmembers that total political spending on televisionadvertising will top $1.3 billion in 2004, and that nonpoliticalclients should buy time before it is gobbled up. And while thetone of ads directly sponsored by the Bush or Kerrycampaigns has been less negative this year than in pastelections, nastiness and mud-slinging have continued to rulein ads sponsored by independent groups. However, campaignlaws required those groups to go off the air 60 days before theelection.

Running a less negative campaign may be a wise move,according to Rohini Ahluwalia, a Carlson School associateprofessor of marketing who recently completed a study onthe effectiveness of negative political messages (see “LoyaltyMatters,” page 29). Ahluwalia’s research found that thecommon political wisdom that a negative message isremembered more than a positive one may not tell thecomplete story. The belief in the power of negativeadvertising had its root in 1980s-era studies which, asAhluwalia explains, showed that voters weighted negativeinformation about candidates more heavily than positiveinformation. Using the American National Election StudiesDatabase, Ahluwalia and her coauthors found that theconclusion overlooked which voters were most influenced bynegativity. When they adjusted the data to account for howstrong an individual’s preference was for one candidate oranother, they found that among crucial swing voters, negativeinformation had less of an effect than earlier thought. “That’snot to say that there was no impact,” Ahluwalia says.“However, it is not as influential as earlier thought.”

The voters most persuaded by negative ads already had anegative impression of the candidate who was a target of thead—in short, it reinforced what they already thought.Negative ads do, however, depress voter turnout, whichAhluwalia considers one of their most damaging effects.“Candidates really want to get at the swing voters,” she says,“and with these undecided voters it’s not the valence of theissue, it’s the salience that matters. Candidates need to bespending time figuring out which are the salient issues forthose voters.”

They also need to be aware of the potential for backlash.“Is there room for negative advertising in a campaign? Yes.But if you take something small—something that happened along time ago or which is not a very important issue—andmake a big deal of it, you are more likely to get a backlash,”she says. “Candidates should stay away from themudslinging.”

In addition, Bush and Kerry must take the positive step ofreinforcing their “brands” in the minds of voters. Thecandidates must be what Patrick Hanlon, president ofThinktopia, a Minneapolis-based marketing firm, and afrequent guest lecturer in Carlson School classes, calls“primal brands.” These are brands with which customers feelan intimate connection, ones that make a person more of asupporter or believer than simply a buyer. Apple Computer,for example, could be considered a primal brand. Third-partycandidate Ralph Nader is the ultimate primal brand, Hanlonsays, because his supporters cast ballots for him knowing hecannot win—and also knowing their votes may lead to avictory for the candidate furthest away from their views.“The candidate is guiding a belief system that surroundsthem,” says Hanlon, who once worked on Ross Perot’spresidential campaign.

To connect with people, candidates and other primalbrands must have several elements: a belief system (whatHanlon calls a creed), a creation story, icons, rituals, sacredwords (think: No New Taxes), and—a given for politicalcandidates—nonbelievers. This sort of religious-themedlanguage illustrates the deeply powerful influence a primalbrand can exert. All of the characteristics are essential, saysHanlon, and cannot be manufactured.

However genuine their brand or well-thought-out theirstrategy, presidential candidates face a “much morecomplicated dynamic” than marketers of other products, saysDavid Hopkins, managing director of Carlson BrandEnterprises, a Carlson School program that involves MBAstudents in branding projects for client companies.

Political consultant Janacek agrees. “Campaigns havetwists and turns; they change every day,” she says.

News events, independent expenditures by privategroups, even the actions of celebrities such as MichaelMoore, whose movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, was made with theexpress purpose of influencing the 2004 presidentialelection, can cause shifts in the environment that requirecandidates to adjust their marketing plans. Moreover, thesheer volume of information that voters receive can changeperceptions or simply turn them off from the process.Hopkins cites the case of his own e-mail box. By his ownadmission, he’s not a politically active or partisan person, yethe receives regular e-mails from both Democrats andRepublicans. Many of the messages have a disrespectfultone—some humorous, others simply mean. Neither Kerrynor Bush can control even a fraction of the messages sentabout them, and many voters suffer from marketingexhaustion, what Hopkins calls “overmessaging.”

It’s a process that encourages cynicism. “As politicianshave embraced marketing techniques, more people viewelections as just marketing, as manipulation, so they becomedismissive of it. To overcome the dismissiveness, politicianshave to increase the frequency of their messages, makingvoters even more dismissive,” says Hopkins. “It’s a crazysystem.”

Mary Lahr Schier is a Northfield, Minn.-based writer.

28 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

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TALK ABOUT BRAND LOYALTY. Nobody has it like BillClinton—at least that’s the conclusion drawn from a study onnegativity and its effect on the opinions of political supportersdone by Carlson School Associate Professor Rohini Ahluwalia.

As a student of branding, Ahluwalia became interested in theeffect of negative publicity on brand loyalty. She wanted todiscover how companies could survive a bad situation. “Fromthere, I really got interested in the political arena,” she recalls.“When the Clinton-Lewinsky story broke, I realized this was awonderful opportunity to do a study of the impact of negativeinformation over time.”

Ahluwalia assembled a panel of voters representing a varietyof outlooks and asked them to participate in a longitudinalstudy, “not knowing where it would go.” Over the next ninemonths—up through the 1999 impeachment trial—sheperiodically interviewed the participants to gauge theirreactions and their changing views of Clinton. Curiouslyenough, the people who paid the most attention to the scandalwere not those who disliked Clinton, but those who liked himthe most. “They were looking for ways to counter the story atfirst: Who is this Lewinsky? Who is out to get him?” Ahluwaliasays. “They wanted to find loopholes in the story.”

Even when Clinton admitted and apologized for lying aboutan affair with the White House intern, his supporters’ loyaltywas unshaken. However, to accommodate that loyalty, theyoften needed to change their stated perceptions of what mattersin a president. For instance, if in the past they had said moralityand honesty were important, they decided such characteristicswere less crucial in a political leader after Clinton’s admissionand apology. They then rated traits such as intelligence andability as more important. “It was interesting that these verystrong supporters were willing to change the structure of theirevaluation of the presidency and what is important in apresident, rather than change their evaluation of Clinton,”Ahluwalia says.

The constant negative publicity also produced whatAhluwalia calls a “halo effect” in Clinton’s strongest supporters.“The supporters could isolate other factors—such asintelligence—and actually improved their ratings of him inthose areas,” she says.

The study, which was published in the Journal of ConsumerResearch, led to Ahluwalia’s other research in the area of negativeadvertising and its impact on political contests.

—M.L.S.

F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 29

Loyalty MattersRohini Ahluwalia

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30 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

Kathryn Carlson has played a key role in leading theCarlson School’s MBA programs over the years. As assis-tant dean and director of the Part-Time and ExecutiveMBA programs, she oversees recruiting, admissions, stu-dent affairs, and cocurricular program operations, andhelps shape strategies and priorities for the school. Herinvolvement across the school gives her unique insight onthe role of women in business, including at the CarlsonSchool.

Carlson School: How has the role of women at the

Carlson School changed over the years?

Kathryn Carlson: Even 15 to 20 years ago, there were only acouple of female faculty members and two women inmanagement positions. Today, several women hold keyleadership positions: an associate dean for MBA programs,an academic department chair, the full-time MBA andundergraduate assistant deans, the CFO, the director ofhuman resources, the director of marketing, and the alumnirelations director. Of the tenured faculty, 19 percent arewomen, and of the tenure-track faculty, 33 percent arewomen. As a major research university, we have differentdemands. There are some universities that may not have ashigh a standard to reach that tenured position. As we lookto the future, our goals are to continue to createopportunities and to continue to create diversity.

What is the Women’s Leadership Initiative?

About a year ago, the school committed dollars andresources to move forward in the area of leadershipdevelopment. Working with Marilyn Nelson, chairman andCEO of the Carlson Companies, the Women’s LeadershipInitiative complements that investment in resources,dollars, and opportunities. Starting in the Carlson Full-Time MBA program, the goal is to expand therepresentation of women through financial support,leadership development, and opportunities such as careermentoring lunches, women’s recruiting events, a leadershipconference, and scholarships directed at women. It’s reallybeginning this fall with executive luncheons andmentoring.

Is the rise in Executive MBA Program enrollment due to

an increase in women interested in the program?

Most definitely. In the early 1990s, women made up about 11percent of the Executive program. Now, we consistentlyhave from 28 to 35 percent in the program each year. In theExecutive MBA program, the schedule is every otherweekend for two years. For anyone with commitmentsoutside of full-time work, that schedule allows you to planand make the necessary arrangements to take care of them.The services offered are unparalleled. Basically, you come toclass. You don’t have to buy books or manage theenrollment and registration process. We manage thebureaucracy for you.

7Questions: Kathryn Carlson

Kathryn Carlson

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F a l l 2 0 0 4 C a r l s o n S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t 31

How important is an MBA for women today?

Well, I’m biased, but I think it is extremely critical. Oneprimary reason is that it creates a lot of opportunities forwomen throughout their careers, and we try to get peopleto think more broadly about their career and careertransitions.

Also, you gain a set of skills that you will always havewith you and that you can apply in any type and size oforganization. You have a confidence about you. With theseskills, you can say to yourself, “I can do this. I can be aleader in my organization. I can own my own business. Ican go after that promotion.” The basic skills—finance,marketing, strategic thinking—all help you think aboutproblems in a lot of different ways.

Then there is the network you form. I have formerstudents who still get together with their small studygroups. Some are still doing dinner once a month. Somemeet at places around the world. It’s partly social and partlyprofessional, finding out what others are doing andcontinuing to be the critical thinking network for eachother.

How has the business world and the business school

environment changed for women over the years?

There is an attitude of collaboration. It’s a much morecollaborative environment than a competitiveenvironment, whether it’s women to women or women tomen. There is an appreciation for the skills a diverse groupof people can bring to leading an organization. Mentoringhas helped shape and change the environment—womenbusiness leaders are serving as mentors for women atdifferent points in their career. And business schools aredoing a much better job of telling women about the value ofa career in business.

Which of your accomplishments as a leader make you the

most proud?

I’m an administrator, but I’m also an entrepreneur at heart.I am always looking for leadership opportunities forstudents that complement their classroom experience. It isa pleasure to come up with new services, new programs, andnew initiatives that do that. Our first Executive MBAinternational residency program took students out of theclassroom and overseas for two weeks, meeting with globalcounterparts to learn about diverse business practices. TheExecutive MBA Leadership Luncheon exposes students tosenior business leaders speaking on a variety of currenttopics. Our Part-Time Student Ambassador Program givesour current students the opportunity to become involved inrecruiting students. The satisfaction is being able to createthose kinds of opportunities for students.

Are you related to the Carlsons?

No. Everyone asks me that, but we’re not related. Myhusband’s name is even Kurt. It’s just a commonMinnesota, Swedish name. I can’t even claim it as myown—I acquired it.

—Kate Peterson

11 99 77 00 ssMike A. Feehan, ’70 BSB, ’84MBA, is senior vice presidentand manager of customercontact for First TennesseeBank of First HorizonNational.

William Messer, ’72 BSB, isvice president of sales forRiverbed Technology.

John Goodman, ’72 BSB, is amember of the University ofMinnesota’s Initiative forRenewable Energy and theEnvironment AdvisoryCouncil.

David V. Rudd, ’73 MBA,received the J. B. FuquaDistinguished EducatorAward for 2003/2004 in theSchool of Business atQueens University, Charlotte,N.C. This is the second timeDr. Rudd has been awardedthis honor since joining thefaculty in 1999.

Joseph Kenyon, ’73 BSB, waselected treasurer of theUpper Midwest Chapter ofthe Turnaround ManagementAssociation, Golden Valley,Minn.

Miklos Konkoly-Thege, ’73MBA, is president and CEOof Det Norske Veritas.

Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson, ’73 MBA, wasrecognized by MinnesotaGovernor Tim Pawlenty withthe Supporter of theHispanic Community Award.She also received theMinneapolis-St. PaulBusiness Journal’s MinorityBusiness Advocate Awardfor 2004.

John Harris, ’74 BSB, was acontender in the 65th SeniorPGA Championship. In 1979,after a three-year pro golfcareer, he created Harris-Homeyer Insurance Co. In2002, Harris left theinsurance world to join theChampions Tour. He playedgolf and hockey at theUniversity of Minnesota,where his hockey coach wasthe late Herb Brooks. Harriswas Brooks’ first captain,and the second-leadingscorer on the team that wonthe 1974 NCAAchampionship. A member ofthe Minnesota Golf andUniversity of Minnesota Hallsof Fame, Harris regained hisamateur status in 1983, and10 years later won the U.S.Amateur. He played on fourstraight U.S. Walker Cupteams before turning pro.

Alan Flory, ’75 MBA,embarked this year ona solo, coast-to-coastbicycle ride to raiseawareness for HeiferInternational, a humanitarianorganization. His 3,700-mileride began June 10 and wasscheduled to end September15. The charity, based inLittle Rock, Ark., has a $60million budget and workswith communities in 50countries and 38 states toalleviate hunger “througheducation and sustainableagriculture.”

Ronald A Weber, ’76 MBA, ’77PhD, is professor and head ofthe IT department atMonash University,Melbourne, Australia.

John Edson, ’77 BSB, ofBlanski Peter Kronlage &Zoch, is chairman elect ofthe Minnesota Society ofCertified PublicAccountants, Minneapolis.

Kay Freund, ’79 BSB, ofMedtronic, is chairwoman ofthe Minnesota Society ofCertified PublicAccountants, Minneapolis.

Michael McCormick, ’79 BSB,is senior vice president oforigination at GECommercial FinanceBusiness Credit.

11 99 88 00 ssSandra Turner, ’81 BSB, waselected pro bono chair ofthe Upper Midwest Chapterof the TurnaroundManagement Association,Golden Valley, Minn.

Azhar Weesan, ’82 MBA, isvice president of Sawtek, asubsidiary of TriQuintSemiconductor.

Tom Frishberg, ’82 BSB, ispresident of the InSiteGroup.

Bryan Bennett, ’82 BSB, isexecutive vice president ofCU Companies.

John C. Brooks, ’84 MBA, isfounder of The OwnersInstitute, Minneapolis.

Scott Richardson, ’84 BSB, ismanaging director ofHoulihan Lokey Howard &Zukin.

David Kirchner, ’86 BSB,recently received a 21stCentury Achievement Awardfrom the Kircher Corp.

[ ]CLASS NOTES

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32 U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a

[ ]CLASS NOTES

Robert Kramarczuk, ’87 PhD, isdirector of Minneapolis-basedAugsburg College’s MBAprogram, which is scheduledto launch in fall 2004.

Lance Novark, ’87 MBA, is CFOfor Minnesota DiversifiedIndustries, St. Paul.

Cathy Zappa, ’87 MBA, is seniorvice president of finance ofWest Group, Eagan, Minn.

Matt Clysdale, ’87 BSB, wasrecently recognized in theMinneapolis-St. Paul BusinessJournal’s “40 Under 40” listingof notable Twin Cities-areabusiness people. He ispresident of the MaguireAgency, serves on theMinnesota Society of CPCUBoard of Directors and theState Fund Mutual AgentAdvisory Council, andparticipates in the CarlsonSchool’s Mentorship Program.

James M. Berarducci, ’88 MHA,is managing director of KurtSalmon Associates.

Steven Moen, ’88 MBA, is vicepresident and national salesmanger of American ExpressRetirement Services,Minneapolis.

Jean Marie Taylor, ’88 MBA,was elected chairwoman ofthe Augsburg College Board of Regents, Minneapolis.

11 99 99 00 ssAndrew Cecere, ’91 MBA, hasbeen appointed to the FairIsaac Board of Directors.Cecere is vice chairman ofPrivate Client, Trust and AssetManagement at U.S. Bancorp.

Mark Vaupel, ’91 BSB, is directorof the IT Services Departmentfor Hormel Foods.

Frank Simer, ’91 MBA, is afaculty member at GustavusAdolphus College, St. Peter,Minn.

Dan Kitrell, ’91 MBA, is vicepresident of sales andmarketing, RestoreProducts/Restore RefillStation, Minneapolis.

Gregory Stenmoe, ’92 MBA, hasbeen named vice chairman ofWilliam Mitchell College ofLaw, St. Paul, Minn.

Gerry Bragg, ’92 MBA, is asystems analyst/architect atthe Altarum Institute, AnnArbor, Mich.

Dave Davis, ’93 MBA, is CFO forUS Airways.

David Belseth ’93 MBA, is vicepresident and cofounder ofSuperior Process Technologies,Minneapolis.

Brian Gustafson, ’93 MBA, waselected treasurer ofWilderness Inquiry,Minneapolis.

Mitch Kaiser, ’94 MBA, is vicepresident and senior researchanalyst of Piper Jaffray & Co.,Minneapolis.

David A. Nelson, ’95 MHA, vicepresident of finance/CFO at St.Francis Hospital & HealthCenter, is participating in theU.K./U.S. Exchange, aninternational exchangeprogram for hospital financialadministrators.

Karen Beckwith, ’96 MBA, wasappointed to Associated Banc-Corp’s Board of Directors. Sheis president and CEO of GelcoInformation Network.

Ashish Gadnis, ’97 MBA, wasrecently recognized in theMinneapolis-St. Paul BusinessJournal’s “40 Under 40” listingof notable Twin Cities-areabusiness people. She is theCEO and co-owner of ForwardHindsight Inc.

Jeffrey Klinefelter, ’97 MBA, wasrecently recognized in theMinneapolis-St. Paul BusinessJournal’s “40 Under 40”listing. He is managing directorand senior research analyst,Piper Jaffray & Co.

Christopher Meldrum, ’98 MBA,is managing director at GoldenPine Ventures, Durham, N.C.

Katherine R. Egbert, ’98 MBA, ismanaging director and seniorequity research analyst ofJefferies & Co.

Richard Shannon, ’98 MBA, issenior research analyst ofPiper Jaffray & Co.

Nathan Dungan, ’99 MNExecutive Program Certificate,was recently recognized in theMinneapolis-St. Paul BusinessJournal’s “40 Under 40”listing. He is president of ShareSave Spend.

Steve Denault, ’99 MBA, ’92BSB, is senior equity analyst atNorthland Securities.

22 00 00 00 ssBola Awobamise, ’00 MBA, issecretary/treasurer of theMinnesota Security Board.

Julius Chepey, ’00 MBA, is CIOof Twin Cities Habitat forHumanity.

Kathleen Pytleski, ’00 MBA, waselected president of theMinnesota Security Board.

Bruce Rader, ’01 MBA, isdirector ofmarketing/membership,University of Minnesota AlumniAssociation.

Aaron Pearson, ’01 MBA, isvice president of the investorrelations and technologygroup at Weber Shandwick.

David Opsahl, ’01 MBA, iscurrently executive vicepresident of corporatedevelopment at CSI

Justine Mishek, ’02 MHA, isa senior consultant for ECGManagement Consultants Inc.,in San Diego.

Eric Baltes, ’02 MBA, is abusiness consultant forLarsonAllen.

Dr. William Nersesian, ’03 MHA,is chief physician of FairviewPhysician Associates.

Marshall Tokheim, ’03 MBA,is manager of FinancialAnalysis Projects, St. Paul.

WWaanntt ttoo bbee iinncclluuddeedd iinn CCllaassss NNootteess??

Contact Kristine Kosek, director of Alumni Services and Outreach,at kkosek@carlsonschool.umn.edu. Or complete the form includedin the 2004 Tribute to Our Benefactors, that appears with this issue.

II nn MM ee mm oo rr ii aa mm —— CC aa rr ll yy ll ee AA nn dd ee rr ss oo nn Carlyle Anderson, ’32 BBA, died July 27, 2004, at age 94 inEvanston, Ill. Born Dec. 21, 1909 in Erhard, Minn., Andersonmoved to Chicago after graduating from the University andwent on to a long and distinguished career in that city’sbusiness community. He never lost his connection to theU of M, however. Over the years, he actively volunteered histime and resources in a variety of ways in support of theinstitution. The most prominent of those duties began in 1962,when he and 20 other like-minded individuals formed theUniversity of Minnesota Foundation. Anderson served as aFoundation trustee from 1962 to 1974, and as its boardchairman from 1966 to 1968, working diligently to raise privatesupport for the U of M. During his term as board chairman, theFoundation helped the Board of Regents establish the RegentsProfessorship program, which annually honors a small numberof eminent senior faculty with endowed chairs. He alsoestablished the Carlyle E. Anderson Fund, which helped createthe Presidents Club Hall in the McNamara Alumni Center.

Anderson recently received two of the University ofMinnesota’s highest honors. One, the Regents Award, is givento individuals who have helped the University through theirvolunteer service or benefactions. The other, the OustandingAchievement Award, recognizes alumni who have attainedunusual distinction in their chosen fields or professions or inpublic service, and who have demonstrated outstandingachievement and leadership.

DD rr .. TT hh oo mm aa ss AA .. MM aa hh oo nn ee yy ,, 11 99 22 88 –– 22 00 00 44Dr. Thomas A. Mahoney passed away July 26, 2004. Mahoney,who received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1956,taught at the Carlson School from 1954 to 1982. In addition toteaching at the U of M, he taught at the Owen Graduate Schoolof Management at Vanderbilt University from 1982 to 1995, wherehe was the Frances Hampton Currey Professor of OrganizationBehavior.

JJ oo hh nn DD ii rr aa cc ll ee ss ,, 11 99 11 88 –– 22 00 00 44John Diracles passed away on June 14, 2004. Diracles taught atthe Carlson School of Management for eight years after retiringas managing partner of the Minneapolis office of the Arthur Youngaccounting firm.

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TimeCapsule

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The University of Minnesota’s School of BusinessAdministration hosted the Business Equality for AmericanMinorities (BEAM) Small Business Management class between1968 and 1972. Organized by Honeywell’s then-Vice Presidentfor Development John Mitchell (standing, far right) and formerAccounting Professor Robert K. Zimmer (seated, fourth fromleft), BEAM was a collaboration with the Minneapolis UrbanLeague and the Minnesota Economic DevelopmentAssociation. Mitchell and Zimmer assisted more than 100students and local business people with business planning,management, and entrepreneurship. “We had a ball,” recallsZimmer. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he and Mitchell tookthe concept on the road, presenting the BEAM model to othercivic and educational organizations across the country.

The Dean’s Corner

This year, for the first time, women will make up 55 percent of theCarlson School’s undergraduate class. And for seven years in a row,more women than men have enrolled in our undergraduate program.

But this trend isn’t echoed in the numbers of women executives—CEOs,CFOs, presidents, and vice presidents—throughout the business world. In fact,those numbers have been declining for a decade. That decline is reflected in

MBA programs around the country,where women make up only 30 percent ofthe total MBA student population. TheCarlson School’s program is no exception.

These two trends—one encouraging,the other troubling—are reminders ofthe importance of actively fosteringdiversity. For that reason, we’vededicated this issue of Carlson School to acloser look at the roles of women inbusiness.

An enlightening roundtable discussionrecently took place at the Carlson Schoolduring which eight accomplished womengathered to discuss issues they’ve faced inthe business world. Their wide-rangingconversation touched on such subjects asthe glass ceiling, MBAs, mentors, andmuch more. We hope you find theirdiscussion as fascinating as we did.

In a similar vein, our feature on recent Carlson School faculty researchilluminates the ways in which gender affects the workplace—from thedifferences in how men and women process information to negotiationtechniques to the insidious effects of sexual harassment.

Finally, we turn our attention to current events—the marketing of the twoPresidential contenders. Carlson School graduates and faculty and several keyobservers reveal how the current campaigns are using marketing strategies tocraft their messages and target their audiences.In the process, we reveal changingpolitical funding laws and the impact of advertising—including research thatcasts new light on the effectiveness of attack ads. We also examine the way inwhich campaigners seek to increase market share by inspiring new voters.

The diverse topics in this issue illustrate how our faculty and staff are workingto increase our understanding of what’s happening in the world. We hope you’llfind ample evidence of how our researchers and alumni are contributing to newways of thinking about the social roles and current events that shape the world ofbusiness for women and men—today and in the future.

Sincerely,

Lawrence BenvenisteDean

M I S S I O N S T AT E M E N T

The mission of the Carlson Schoolof Management is to provide the highestquality education for present and future businessand academic leaders, and advancethe understanding and practice ofmanagement through research and outreach.

Carlson SchoolA M A G A Z I N E F O R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S

Carlson School is published for alumni and friends of theCarlson School of Management. Direct correspondence to:Alumni Relations, Office of the Dean, 321 19th Ave. S.,Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Visit our website at www.carlsonschool.umn.edu. For information about Carlson School alumni programs,contact Alumni Relations at alumni@carlsonschool.umn.edu.

EXECUTIVE EDITORCatherine Peloquin

EDITORChris Mikko

ASSOCIATE EDITORCaitlin Kimball

ART DIRECTIONBarbara Koster Design

CUSTOM PUBLISHING SERVICESThe Coghlan Group

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSAndrew Bacskai, Suzy Frisch, Anne RawlandGabriel, Sara Gilbert, Katy Holmgren, JayneJones, Mary Lahr Schier, Michael Weinbeck

PHOTOGRAPHYJayme Halbritter, Sara Jorde, Mark Luinenburg,Dan Marshall, Tony Nelson, Sheila Ryan,Anthony Brett Schreck

OFFICE OF THE DEANLawrence Benveniste Dean

Dennis Ahlburg Senior Associate Dean and Associate Dean of Faculty and Research

Stefanie Lenway Associate Dean of MBA Programs

Michael Houston Associate Dean of International Programs

Robert Ruekert Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs

Steven Hatting Executive Director of Corporate and Alumni Services

Jayne Jones Director of Marketing

Kristine KosekDirector of Alumni Services and Outreach

Chris Mayr Chief Development Officer

ADVISORY BOARD LEADERSHIPEdwin “Skip” Gage Chair, Board of Overseers

Robert Buuck, ’70 BSB, ’72 MBA Vice Chair, Board of Overseers

Mark Stoering, ’93 MBA Chair, Alumni Advisory Board

© 2004 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

Accredited by AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunityeducator and employer.

This publication is available in alternative formats upon request.

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OO CC TT OO BB EE RR 22 00 00 441 First Friday—MBA alumni and student networking

event—Gasthof zur Gemütlichkeit, 2300 University Ave. N.E., Minneapolis, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

5 First Tuesday—Jim Cracchiolo, president, Global Financial Services Group, American Express, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E.,Minneapolis, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

17–23 Homecoming 2004

28 Denver-area Alumni Networking Reception—The Brown Palace Hotel, 321 17th St., Denver, 6–8 p.m.

NN OO VV EE MM BB EE RR 22 00 00 442 First Tuesday—Lenny Pippin, president and CEO,

The Schwann Food Co., McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

5 First Friday—MBA alumni and student networking event—Tonic of Uptown, 1400 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

8 Inside the Boardroom—a leadership series hosted by Marilyn Carlson Nelson; Featuring Linda Alvarado, president and CEO, Alvarado Construction, Carlson School of Management, 321 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, 5:30–8 p.m.

17–18 San Francisco/San Jose Alumni Networking Receptions

DD EE CC EE MM BB EE RR 22 00 00 443 First Friday—MBA alumni and student networking

event—Mpls. Café, 1110 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

7 First Tuesday—Bill George, former chairman and CEO, Medtronic and author of Authentic Leadership, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

For more information on alumni events, go to www.carlsonschool.umn.edu/events.

Event Calendar

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Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDMinneapolis, MNPermit No. 155321 Nineteenth Avenue South

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS / CARLSON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FALL 2004

CarlsonSchoolCarlsonSchool

BeyondtheGlassCeiling

Pri Shah, associate professorof strategic managementand organization

BeyondtheGlassCeilingCarlson Schoolfacultyresearchexplores theissuesthatwomen face intoday’sbusinessworld.

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