Lunch & Learn Series with Raymond Berglund from Smith & Nephew

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On February 14, Raymond Berglund visited the University of Memphis to speak to the CDMBA and IMBA classes as part of the Fogelman Executive Lunch Series.  He provided his opinions on the current trends of healthcare and the medical device industry as well as providing the group advice on being a “young leader.”

Raymond Berglund is the Senior Director of Finance for the Global Franchises of the Advanced Surgical Devices Division of Smith & Nephew. He leads finance support to all Advanced Surgical Device Division product franchises, helping shape strategic direction and drive financial performance. Focusing on product portfolio lifecycle management, profitability and return on assets, both by product franchise and by geography.

He joined Smith & Nephew in 2010 as Business Process Champion, and was successful in leading the global business effort of reducing Orthopaedic net inventory by greater than 10% in 2011. Upon the reorganization of Endoscopy and Orthopedic business units, he was named the leader of the Enterprise Excellence group overseeing global strategic process improvements. In January 2011, he was named Senior Director, Finance.

He began his career at General Electric in the Transportation division’s Operations Management Leadership Program in Erie, PA. He joined the GE Corporate Audit Staff, progressing to Audit Manager, before taking the role as CFO Respiratory & Sleep division of GE Healthcare, where he led the integration of two acquisitions and the formation of strategy in the newest product space for GE Healthcare.

A graduate of Clarkson University in Engineering & Management, he now resides in Memphis, TN.

2012 Spring Lunch and Learn Series

Tomorrow starts the first day of our spring Lunch and Learn series.  We have some great speakers coming in to talk to the CDMBA and IMBA students.  Check out the lineup:

Mr. Raymond Berglund, Smith & Nephew

Mr. Ruchin Kansal, Deloitte

Ms. Mary Day, Tradewind Group LLC

Mr. Fred Towler, International Paper

Mayor Mark Luttrell, Shelby County

Mr. Pitt Hyde, Pittco Management

Mr. Brent Melancon, Medtronic

Ms. Bettina Roberts, McDonald’s

U of M Leadership

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University of Memphis CDMBA and IMBA candidates recently took the Myers-Briggs personality test as a tool to understand how employees and employers interact based on personality traits. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test combines the 16 possible personality types of extraversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judgement/perception.  Based on the theory of psychological types developed by Carl Jung, the MBTI spotlights our own personality combinations.

According to the Myers-Briggs Foundation:

The different types complement each other because each expresses a valuable although different perspective. For example:

• A Sensing preference provides pragmatic realism, while a preference for Intuition provides a view of the possibilities.
• A Thinking preference provides an impersonal analysis of the situation, while a Feeling preference provides a look at the personal and human consequences of an action.

What is your MBTI personality type?  Post in the comment box below.

CDMBA Students Help FedEx Family House Gala

On January, 28th the Peabody Hotel played host to the 2nd Annual “Home Is Where the Heart Is” Gala to benefit the FedExFamilyHouse, a cost-free home-away-from-home for families of children receiving extended care at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.           

In attendance this year included special guests FedEx Chairman and CEO Mr. Fred Smith, 2-time Oscar Winning actress Hilary Swank, and current Carolina Panther and former Memphis Tiger DeAngelo Williams.  Also in attendance were several FedEx Scholars who donated their time to serve as volunteers throughout the evening. 

The night featured dinner, a live auction with items such as a Super Bowl Experience, a NASCAR experience and various vacations, and a great band.  Not to be lost in the midst of the celebrities, the gourmet food and the exciting auction, the focus of the night remained on the FedExFamilyHouse and its great mission.  The highlight of the night was when Laurie, Josh, and baby Lizzie Gray took the stage to tell their story and to share with the crowd of over 400 just how important places like the FedExFamilyHouse are to families in these tough situations.  After their speech and a short video the family as well as the FedExFamilyHouse received an extended standing ovation.

The night raised a great deal of money for the House.  If you would like to get involved please see more information here.

By David Stein

Mike Sherman, Partner at MB Venture Partners

Mr. Sherman joined MB Ventures in late 2006 after a successful 16-year career at Memphis-based Medtronic Sofamor Danek, a subsidiary of Medtronic.  Prior to joining Danek, he held product development positions at Synthes and Smith & Nephew.  Mr. Sherman received his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas, Southwestern Graduate School. 

Mr. Sherman spent his first nine years at Sofamor Danek building the product portfolio, developing and commercializing several key product lines.  In 1999, just prior to the acquisition of Sofamor Danek by Medtronic, he assumed the position of Vice President of Technology Development where he was responsible for technical and business due diligence on acquisitions, in-licensing activities, and strategic investments. In this role he directly managed or served as an official Board observer on several MSD portfolio companies as well as directing a highly creative team of engineers tasked with driving new technology into the Medtronic Spine organization. His efforts resulted in numerous product innovations in the fields of spinal implants and instrumentation, minimally invasive spine surgery, and flexible stabilization.  Mr. Sherman has over 90 issued US patents with over numerous pending applications.

Mike serves on the Board of Directors of Anulex Technologies, Cayenne Medical, Expanding Orthopedics, Zyga Technology, Calosyn Pharma and Veracity Medical Solutions.

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Exam Week

Best of luck to all the students as you prepare for final exams, papers, and presentations.  It has been a good semester with a lot of great speakers for our Lunch and Learn series. I hope everyone enjoys their winter break and comes back ready for another semester.

 

 

Celebrate! 3,000 Views

Today we surpassed the 3,000 views mark.  Thank you to everyone who reads the blog.  We hope you have been enjoying the posts.

If you have suggestions for a post or want to learn more about a particular subject, please post in the comments section, and we will try to address the issue.

Rob Carter, Executive Vice President of Information Services and Chief Informaton Officer of FedEx Corporation

by Andrew Baird

The Fall 2011 Fogelman College Executive Speaker Series was capped off on Tuesday, November 14th by Rob Carter, Executive Vice President of Information Services and Chief Informaton Officer of FedEx Corporation. Mr. Carter is a member of FedEx’s five-person Strategic Management Committee, which plans and executes the corporation’s strategic business activities. Mr. Carter is responsible for setting technology direction, as well as FedEx’s key applications and technology infrastructure. Mr Carter joined FedEx in 1993, and he was recently named as part of Fortune Magazine’s Executive Dream Team (http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/news/companies/1108/gallery.dream_team_starting_lineup.fortune/9.html), Mr. Carter is also currently a member of the Saks Inc. and First Horizon Corporation Boards of Directors, and the University of Florida Foundation Board of Trustees.

Born in Taiwan, Mr. Carter is a true citizen of the world and he came to understand and appreciate diverse cultures from a very young age. His talk focused on the importance of personal, business, and technological connections that have long guided our activities in every day life. Mr. Carter stressed the importance of the expansion of networks throughout history and how they have created value for us along the way. We discussed the difference between being a “native” digital versus being a “fluent” digital, and how we may take our own interconnectedness for granted in the constantly evolving digital world.

From discussing the development of network infrastructure to potentia consequences of our hyperconnectivity, Mr. Carter’s discussion with our class was poignant and thought-provoking. He urged us to consider the broader implications of networks and how they impact the flow of ideas, information, and commerce every day around the world. Our time with such an influential and accomplished business leader such as Mr. Carter was a great way to conclude the Fall session of our Lunch-and-Learn series. We are all excited to begin the Spring Series after the start of the second semester, and hope to provide more great blog entries on our next group of speakers.

Steve Bares-Executive Director of the Memphis Bioworks

by Martin Ostmann

On October 4th, 2011 Dr. Steve Bares visited the CDMBA/IMBA lunch speaker series. Dr. Bares is the President and Executive Director of the Memphis Bioworks foundation and has held this role since 2001. Bioworks is a non-profit organization with the mission of expanding the regional bioscience industries. The organization leverages the competitive strengths of the Memphis region in order to build business in three critical areas of bioscience – biomedical, biologistics, and bioagriculture.

 

Dr. Bares spoke with the students about the strategies that Bioworks uses in promoting the growth of the important bioscience sector in Memphis. The foundation helps entrepreneurs obtain critical seed funds and provides office and lab space to grow a new idea before ultimately starting a new company. Bioworks is currently preparing to break ground on a new bioscience research park to be located in the Memphis medical district. The complete, ten year, master plan will include a dedicated, six-story, 165,000-square-foot world-class biotechnology research facility, state-of-the-art laboratory and office buildings, substantial vivarium space, training facilities, meeting space, and an entrepreneurs program to develop new biotechnology businesses and foster the creation of new jobs.

Dr. Bares holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and an MBA from Oregon State University, and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Humboldt State University. In addition to Dr. Bares’ leadership of Memphis Bioworks, he has previously served as business manager at International Paper; president, co-founder and VP Marketing/Sales at Sparcom corporation, and program manager at Hewlett Packard.

Thanks to Dr. Bares for taking the time to visit the Fogelman College of Business and Economics and for his continuing service, leadership, and vision to expand Memphis’ bioscience and entrepreneurial landscapes.

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Executive Speaker Series, Mark Colombo

On Tuesday, November 1st, Mark Colombo, Senior Vice President of Solutions and Digital Access for FedEx Services, spoke to our MBA Program about leadership. Through dialogue and several exercises, we learned about the importance, key components, and professional development of leadership within the workplace. Recalling on a past experience he noted, “It’s great to have the knowledge, you want to have all of the necessary tools in your tool box, but it’s what you do with those tools and how you execute that could establish you as a leader. You don’t want to be just a ‘brain on a stick’. It’s really how you collectively move people towards reaching different goals.” These real life experiences, current business issues, and problem solving exercises were perfect for the students to start thinking about direct education application and how they’ll begin shaping their future career paths.

Mark Colombo is senior vice president of FedEx Solutions & Digital Access. He and his teams provide market-leading seamless, customizable digital access to transportation and technology services for FedEx customers. His Solutions teams provide comprehensive support to Sales and the FedEx operating companies, from the design and implementation of integrated transportation solutions, to customer relationship management tools, reporting, information, education and processes that support The FedEx Sales teams.

Since joining FedEx in 2000, Mark has played key roles in Sales, Solutions and Marketing. Prior to joining FedEx, Mark developed broad experience by working in strategy consulting and private equity.  Mark received Bachelor’s degrees in both Economics and Political Science and Master’s Degrees in both Economics and Finance.

Mark is active in the Memphis community and serves as Chairman of Board of Trustees for Bridges, a non-profit organization that builds a community of leaders to advance racial, economic, educational and environmental justice.

By Laura Amole

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