A Prize for Business Mind and Spirit

In response to proposals for the USC College Dean’s Prize for the enrichment of student academic life and to answer the question: “How would you go about making the educational experience at USC college even better?”, this week’s post focuses on my suggestion to integrate undergraduate businesses class lectures with invited practitioners in the field. For brevity, let us call my suggestion the “Classroom Motivation Speakers” (CMS). The role and mission of USC is the “development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit.” Too many of my undergraduate classes are interesting in their own right but fail to show how the course material relate to the business community. For example, BUAD-311 Operations Management, examines maximizing efficiencies in production assembly lines but lacks referencing any contemporary real world examples. With all the resources available to the USC Marshall School of Business, it is depressing that no one from the multitude of industries surrounding Los Angeles was brought into class to provide a personal success story of how they used the principles studied in class to turnaround a moribund company. With this simple connection, the class would have educated both the mind and spirit of business students.

The winners for this year’s College Dean’s Prize will be judged on the following selection criteria: (1) importance of the issues being addressed, (2) originality or creativity of the idea, (3) feasibility and potential for successful implementation, and (4) range of students affected if implemented. CMS will provide important benefits to the business school and students in all the above criteria. Part of USC’s Plan for Increasing Academic Excellence is a vision that “advances knowledge and at the same time addresses issues critical to our community, the nation, and the world.” By bringing into the classroom champions of industry, students will be able to recognize immediately the connection between theory and application. Although the concept of CMS is not original, its implementation in a classroom setting is far from optimum today. CMS should be easily enacted within the USC business school environment because of enthusiastic alumni support groups and the strategic value of attracting top students to companies represented by the speakers. Embedding CMS as part of all business classes will provide the widest range of benefit to all students and counter any arguments of favoritism toward specific business curricula. Any fears that CMS will require significant funds to secure distinguished speakers can be countered by the natural appeal to USC alumni to share their successes with future leaders of America.

Creating a CMS program facilitates development of USC’s four major strategic capabilities contained within its Plan for Increasing Academic Excellence. First, CMS will help span disciplinary and school boundaries by enhancing interest and engagement by students in other USC schools. For example, the Viterbi School of Engineering already has a cooperative graduate course of study with Marshall in 3D Animation. Second, CMS will provide and stimulate dialogue among researchers and business practitioners. It will demonstrate how theory is transformed into profitable practices. Today, many sound business decisions are based on probability and statistics. Just one business success explained in a CMS setting, such as choosing the best set of stock options, can only encourage students to dig deeper into the underlying theory of this branch of mathematics. Third, CMS encourages the formation of networks and partnerships by disseminating success stories among a wide range of people within and outside of USC. Today, UPenn-Wharton already provides an “Executive Speaker Series” in-class for undergraduates. Because of existing collaborations with other top business colleges including Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia, a USC CMS program will expand existing networks and coalitions beyond the Trojan Family. Fourth, CMS will increase responsiveness to learners by highlighting the latest technology and process improvements in business circles based on evolving strategies and methods. CMS will enhance learning opportunities to the Trojan Family well after graduation and into retirement. Finally, CMS will strengthen USC’s Core Values of free inquiry and code of ethics by promoting open discussion between industry and academics.

USC’s 2007 Cuban Commencement: Entrepreneurial maverick Mark Cuban Provides a Vision for Success in Today’s Business Environment

With dates for 2007 school commencements fast approaching across the nation, the University of Southern California joins other major educational institutions in seeking out prominent and noteworthy commencement speakers to inspire their graduates. In this post I am honored to empower myself and nominate Mark Cuban to the USC Honorary Degree’s Committee (HDC) for a Doctorate in Humane Letters and 2007 class commencement speaker. Anyone familiar with professional basketball will immediately recognize Cuban as the flamboyant and highly successful owner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks. But most sports fans may be surprised to learn that Cuban also created two of the hottest and most lucrative internet communication startups of the 21st century, Broadcast.com and HDNet (logo pictured). Cuban’s rapid successes in the sports and business worlds have made him a billionaire in his mid 40’s and recognized by his peers as an innovator in adapting Internet technology to sports entertainment businesses. In the words of James Freedman, President Emeritus of Dartmouth College and author of Idealism and Liberal Education, an excellent commencement speaker should be a “talismans for inspiration and rejuvenation at those hollow moments when we feel depressed and defeated.” Graduation can be a time of uncertainty and emotional stress as students leave the safe confines of a well-structured university environment for the rapid and unpredictable dynamics of the world marketplace. The graduates are looking for heroes to give them confidence that USC has prepared them for their careers and Cuban’s charisma and success record are the best tonic to overcome any fears.

Mark Cuban’s qualifications for USC’s commencement speaker goes far beyond the standards set forth by the HDC. His “extraordinary achievements in scholarship, the professions, or other creative activities” are mercurial in time, diverse in scope, and innovative in concept. Barely out of college, he built up a startup software business called Micro Solutions that he quickly leveraged to create the ubiquitous Broadcast.com, an Internet company that streams live basketball games to paying viewers. Whether through uncanny insight or remarkable business savvy, he sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo and diversified his stock holdings just before the dot.com bubble burst in the late 1990s. While continuing his technology pursuits with the highly profitable HDNet, a high definition cable network company, Cuban jumped at the chance to purchase the Dallas Mavericks and turnaround the ailing franchise. Within a year he had rebuilt the team into a top contender that has challenged for the NBA title over the last five years. He appears to have the Midas touch in every field he enters. Besides Cuban’s outstanding contributions in the Internet entertainment arena he has also made “outstanding contributions to the welfare and development of USC and/or society.” Despite the abrasive demeanor he shows at Maverick basketball games as an owner who encourages criticizing officials and extolling outlandish displays of team solidarity, Cuban is deeply committed to helping society improve the plight of the less fortunate. He has matched every NBA fine imposed on him with millions of his own dollars for worthy charities within the Dallas area. His immediate success with the Mavericks have made him an instant hero among the local community and his enthusiasm is contagious, providing fans a sense of pride and encouragement extending into their own personal lives. Of all the honorary degrees USC could confer on Cuban, including a science degree for contributions exploiting the vast potential of the Internet, Humane Letters is most appropriate for his unbending commitment to using his wealth for the benefit of society.

Like many highly successful men, Cuban is feared by his business competitors and often controversial in his actions. He even once started a public “booing” campaign against former Maverick players who returned to Dallas on opposing teams. But despite these occasional outbursts, Cuban embodies those personal traits central to USC’s Mission statement, “strongly committed to academic freedom and proud of our entrepreneurial heritage.” Inscribed at the base of Tommy Trojan is the Latin motto, “Palmam qui meruit ferat” (Let him who deserves it bear away the palm). Mark Cuban has proven himself a victor among men and it is only fitting that USC award him their highest honors, the palm of Doctor of Humane Letters and 2007 Commencement Speaker.