Apparently Someone Reads This Thing

This evening I was looking over the wasteland that is my blog and I noticed I had a comment on one of my recent posts, two of them actually. The first one was (I'm assuming) a fellow MBA student here and the second was somewhat more serious from a fellow named Ehram, asking "where are you doing your MBA? What are your thoughts on MBA courses in London as opposed to those in the US?" I started writing my response, it became rather garrolous, and I figured it would make a wonderful post. Not having direct experience with MBA programs in the UK, I expanded the field of the questions to something I do have knowledge on, what sets a Walton MBA apart from other MBA programs. My response was as follows: (my apologies for the spacing, Blogger is having issues, I swear I know how to write a paragraph)

Hi Ehram, I am currently completing my MBA at the University of Arkansas, Sam Walton College of Business. While I do not have direct, first-hand knowledge of any MBA programs in the UK I will attempt to put forth what I believe sets a Walton MBA apart from all schools. And I will try not to sound arrogant when I say this, but a key difference between a Walton MBA and any other MBA program anywhere is our proximity to a Fortune 1 company. As the name implies, there is only one Fortune 1 company, and we're the closest top-flight school. This proximity affords us select few in the program the opportunity not only to interact with them, but also to take advantage of all the resources they have drawn to the area. Just this morning I walked into my marketing research class (a few minutes late to my embarassment) and speaking to the class was Bob Seelert, the Worldwide Chairman of Saatchi and Saatchi. And I can honestly say that was not a random occurance, just yesterday evening I had a thirty minute long conversation with a VP of Category Management for Micheal's (North America's largest crafts and hobbies company).

Wal-Mart (the afforementioned Fortune 1 company) has drawn to the area every vendor they deal with, I know they (Wal-Mart) have a permanent contingent of Deloitte people here (I know there is a PWC and E&Y office in the area, not sure about KPMG), and they have a very active International M&A department (I know this because they employ a former Walton MBA grad). All of that is to say that while the area is dominated by a single company, we are not limited in our employment options either by the employer whom we wish to work for or what line of work we wish to follow. As an analogy, Wal-Mart's $400+billion in revenues puts them on par with the economies of Ohio, New Jersey, and Belgium (they're actually slightly larger than Belgium), something that large has to be diverse.

Another competitive advantage of the Walton MBA is our entrepreneurial track record. Last year we were listed as the #7 most competitive MBA program in the country, and that was before we swept nearly all top prizes at Moot Corp (the "Super Bowl", or "FA Cup" if more to your liking, of business plan competitions) and a host of other business plan competitions. In addition to the cash prizes, two new businesses have been formed out of last years entrepreneurship track, which is quite amazing for a program of our size. With regards to our size, being a small program ( < style="mso-spacerun: yes"> While I do not begrudge people for going to Harvard (they're obviously a great school with an exceptional track record), with near 2,000 full-time MBA students, I don't think I would be afforded the firsthand opportunities I have had here in Arkansas.

My intention was not to go this long, but I guess I did get a post out of it so it's not all bad, my regrets to Ehram for my lengthy answer, next time I'll try to keep it brief! In other university news, this weekend we get to roll Alabama on the football field, I'll try to post pics sometime next week if we win.