PSU Magazine Spring 2005

developing the competencies--espe– cially the ones that need the most work, based on the benchmark-as well as learning the technical business sciences. PSU administrators say their approach is unique among business schools in the region in the extent Lo which iL is emphasizing personal or "soft skills," which are typically sched– uled as electives, but are now required learning al Portland State. In doing so, the University joins a growing national trend. "Many schools are focusing more on leadership and other soft skills, largely in response to what recruiters say they are finding lacking in MBAs," says Wall Street]oumal writer Ron Alsop. He points to University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, whose Leadership Edge program provides 360-degree assessments and helps stu– dents work on their personal skills. Associate dean Rogers says there is another reason PSU redesigned its MBA program. "Portland needs a high-profile busi– ness school, and right now we don't have one," he says. "We're gelling much better. But looking al the West Coast, you have University of Wash– ington, Stanford, Berkeley-all high– branded business schools. We don't have that in Oregon. " Business leaders told Rogers that auracting talented managers and hav– ing them stay in the Portland area requires that Portland have a business school where not only they, but their spouses, Loo, could earn a graduate degree. "lL's important for the eco– nomic vitality of the region, " he says. ocus group member Juanita Petersen, administrative depart– ment director for laboratory services al Oregon Health & Science University, earned her MBA at Portland Stale in 1991, and says it has made a big difference in her career. "Having a science background, it was very eye-opening Lo see the whole human resource and financial side of things. It has allowed me to be more competitive when management posi– tions open up, " she says. MBA grad Rollins sees great value in the degree Loo, even if the common perception of the degree is somewhat inITated. "People have an expectation that it's a fast-track to CEO. That's unrealistic. I do think the MBA is getting Lo be not exactly a requirement, but a nice credential to have," he says. And it's a credential that can make a big difference in pay. The average start– ing salary for an MBA grad in Oregon is $64,600, according to Vinitia Math– ews, director of graduate placement and career services. Someone entering the marketplace with an undergraduate business degree in Oregon can expect a starting salary between $33,000 and $45,000, she says. By comparison, the average starting salary for a Stanford MBA graduate is $125,700. But this grad is also spend– ing a lot more money to get the degree. Rogers says private Ivy League schools can easily charge four times the $21,500 that a PSU student would pay for an MBA. The elite school pedigree can also carry some baggage that can turn off potential recruiters if the graduate is not careful. In his annual Wall Street journal article ranking the nation's top business schools, Alsop quotes recruiters who visited some top schools and came away disappointed. Students at UCLA's Anderson School were described as arrogant and disrespectful, with several making salary demands during the first interview. Recruiters repeatedly used the words "chip on their shoulder," "snob– bish," and "arrogant," to describe stu– dents they met at Harvard. "But the feeling isn 't universal," Alsop writes. "'l think there are actu– ally a lot of nice people at Harvard,' says Gates Bryant, a Wall Street]oumal survey respondent and consultant at Parthenon Group in Boston. 'The prob– lem is that some Harvard graduates have the wrong expectations. They expect to be managing projects and people right off the bat."' SU is betting that by instilling and reinforcing strong personal quali– ties that its graduates will be able to offer the best of both worlds: the techni– cal know-how of business, and the peo– ple skills to make it work on the job. "Executives are derailed more often by their lack of emotional intelligence than their technical knowledge. All the technical stuff is absolutely necessary, but it's not sufficient," says Carolyn McKnight, PSU's director of MBA programs. McKnight was brought in to her current position at PSU after working 25 years in the business world, most recently for Planar Systems in Beaver– ton. A big pan of her job is to give feedback and coaching to students who are learning leadership skills such as conITict management and strategic thinking. While the teaching of these skills represents a departure from the traditional MBA curriculum, it makes perfect sense to McKnight. "I don't think this is radical al all , corning from industry. I think it's obvious,'' she says. ompanies are Ouid , ever-chang– ing entities, and Lo manage them well , you have to be nexible, imagina– tive, and ready to admit that maybe somebody else's ideas are better than your own, says McKnight. Managers may have MBAs from the best schools in the country, but if they don't know how to be 0exible and deal with con– Oict they'll drag their organizations dovm. "No company has this nailed. lL's not something you check off. It's a practice," she says. By incorporating these soft skills into all phases of the MBA curriculum, McKnight and others say PSU is taking the very same steps that a nexible company would take in making posi– tive changes: lL's listening to what other people are saying and is showing a willingness to break the mold. Does that mean you have to have an MBA Lo be successful in business? No. Bill Gates runs Microsoft just fine, even if he cl roppecl out of Harvard. But he still appreciates academic credentials when he sees them. His wife , Melinda, earned her MBA at Duke University, Class of '87. D Gohn Kirkland, a Portland freelance writer; wrote the articles "The Far Out Story of Vortex 1" and "Top of Her Class" in the winter 2005 PSU Magazine.) SPRING 2005 P U MAGAZINE 11