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Three conferences sponsored by student organizations at HBS in January brought together alumni, students, and experts from business, government, and academia to discuss a wide range of topical issues. Summaries of those conferences follow.
AASU: Focus on Community Revitalization
The importance of sharing upward mobility with all African Americans was the theme of the 26th annual HBS African-American Student Union (AASU) Career/Alumni Conference, "The Next Step: Revitalizing Our Community," held January 22-25. Taking place at HBS and Boston's Park Plaza Hotel, the conference, organized by Otu Hughes and Gregory Sims (both HBS '98), attracted some three hundred alumni, current and prospective students, and corporate sponsors.
A Thursday evening welcome address by Pamela A. Thomas-Graham (MBA '88/JD '89), a partner at McKinsey & Company, was followed on Friday by several alumni seminars. Associate Professor Joshua Lerner spoke about opportunities and challenges in the venture capital and community development fields; Professor James L. Heskett discussed strategy and community revitalization; and Professor Michael E. Porter addressed the competitive advantage of the inner city. Meanwhile, prospective African-American students attended a case discussion led by Professor Linda A. Hill. The day concluded with a career fair featuring representatives from major corporations.
Saturday morning began with a seminar led by George E. Curry, editor of Emerge magazine, and continued with panels on the affirmative action debate, the potential for technology to strengthen the African-American community, entrepreneurship and economic development, and careers in the venture-capital and private-equity arenas. Frank Savage, chairman of Alliance Capital Management International, delivered a luncheon talk on international business opportunities for African Americans. Afternoon panels followed on African Americans in sports management, business possibilities in Africa, and issues for African-American women entrepreneurs. Charles E. Walker, Jr., chairman of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, led a town meeting on lessons learned from last year's revelations of racist attitudes among certain corporate executives at Texaco. Hugh B. Price, president and CEO of the National Urban League, concluded the conference with a dinner address on the power of the African-American consumer market. Three HBS alumni were also honored with AASU awards: E. Stanley O'Neal (MBA '78), who received the Professional Achievement Award; Deborah C. Wright (MBA/JD '84), who received the Civic Commitment Award; and Nancy L. Lane (29th PMD), who received the Bert H. King Service Award.
Asia Business Conference: Is the Miracle Over?
The annual Asia Business Conference, organized this year by the HBS Asia Business Club and Harvard Law School's Asia Law Society, has often been an occasion for participants to bask in the excitement generated by Asia's explosive growth. But this year's event, "Asia Towards the 21st Century: Is the Miracle Over?," took place in January against a decidedly more somber backdrop: the financial crisis that has cast a pall over the region's largest economies and muted the roar of several of its most precocious "tigers."
Interest in Asia's near-term and future prospects may have been in part responsible for a record-breaking turnout of some thirteen hundred people at the conference. The two-day event featured dozens of speakers and numerous panel sessions involving HBS professors and other academic experts, as well as prominent government and business leaders from the region. Session topics covered the current status and outlook for various industries and issues ranging from venture and investment capital, to entertainment and media, to consumer marketing. Other panels examined subjects such as "The Internet in Asia" and "Comparisons and Lessons from Financial Crises in Asia and Latin America."
With the response of international lending agencies to the volatile Asian markets a prime topic of the day, the remarks of one high-ranking official, Shigemetsu Sugisaki, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, were especially noteworthy. In a plenary session titled "The Economic Crisis in Asia," Sugisaki urged Asian authorities to lower barriers to trade and investment and to close insolvent financial institutions and restructure those that are weak. "The key area that needs to be tackled as a first priority is the financial sector," he declared. Acknowledging that experience in other countries has shown that reform of the financial sector can be an arduous and complicated process, Sugisaki stressed, nonetheless, that Asia's problems in this area should be immediately addressed, because "the restoration of confidence in the currencies is closely linked to the soundness of the financial sector."
WSA: Shattering the Glass Ceiling
This year's Women's Student Association (WSA) conference, "Women Who Have Shattered the Glass Ceiling," attracted an impressive group of women executives who served as panelists, speakers, and audience participants. About five hundred attended the WSA's seventh annual January gathering, which was cosponsored by the Committee of 200 (C200), an organization of women executives.
In the morning keynote address, Carolee Friedlander, president and CEO of Carolee Designs, Inc., a 25-year-old company that sells fashion jewelry and home accessories to 450 retail accounts, discussed some of the challenges she has faced as a woman in business. Friedlander attributed her success to a "constant state of being creatively discontent with the status quo, as well as being comfortable with continuous change and innovation."
The day offered a series of breakout sessions led by several women with extensive experience in different fields. The nonprofit panel, for example, included Elaine L. Chao (MBA '79), a fellow at The Heritage Foundation and the former head of the United Way of America; Anna Lloyd, president of C200; and Andrea C. Silbert (MBA '92), founder and executive director of the Center for Women & Enterprise.
A number of sessions focused on entrepreneurship. Susan Willet Bird, founder and president of the American Mediation Council, and Gilda Marx, founder of GM Designs, Inc., talked about leaving corporate America to start their own businesses, while Marjorie Alfus took on the topic of entrepreneurship within a corporate environment. Alfus, a former Kmart executive, recently partnered with C200 and HBS to support a new initiative at HBS to increase the number of case studies with female protagonists (see HBS Bulletin, February 1998).
Gail Evans, executive vice president of Cable News Network, gave the afternoon keynote address. She urged attendees to "make requests to see what's possible," noting that too often women executives do not ask for what they need. On a personal note, Evans observed that "my job is not who I am, but it is what I do," adding that her duties as a mother and a grandmother take precedence over her professional interests.
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