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CONTACT:
communications@mail.cox.smu.edu
Andrea Hugg
(214)768-4474 |
OR |
Lindsay Hogan
(214)768-1794 |
DATE: January 14, 2005
COX MBAs FIRST TO STUDY AT DISNEY INSTITUTE
(Dallas, TX) Cox School of Business’ MBA Business Leadership Center (BLC) at Southern Methodist University has continuously offered innovative leadership training programs to MBA s over the center’s decade-long existence. This spring’s special program at the Disney Institute in Orlando goes a step further in integrating practical experience with leadership concepts.
Beginning on May 14, 42 MBA students will travel from Dallas to Orlando to spend three intensive days studying Disney leadership theories and their actual application within Epcot Center, Disney World, and MGM Studios. No MBA students have studied at the Disney Institute. This program is being provided to Cox MBAs at no additional cost to the students. All expenses, with the exception of airfare, are being paid by the school.
For more than a decade, professionals around the world have come to Walt Disney World Resort to study best practices and discuss "the Disney Approach" to current business and management issues. MBA Business Leadership Center (BLC) Director Paula Hill had previously attended a Disney Institute training program. She had the opportunity to see how Disney leadership skills were applied in any discipline and to any function – from the laundry room operations to the turn-around of Euro-Disney – and how the actual application of concepts such as creativity, team building, and service standards remained the same.
The objectives of this MBA group include:
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to develop an understanding of the effect that creating and sustaining a service culture has on an organization’s business results,
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to discover systems, people, and processes behind the scenes that work together to produce a quality experience, and
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to observe the application of systems and processes within the Walt Disney World Resort in the achievement of service excellence.
Commenting on his decision to participate in the program, Cox MBA ’00 Andrew Siegel said, "This is truly the capstone experience to my education at Cox."
The MBA Business Leadership Center (BLC) was created to offer MBA students practical training in critical management and leadership skills. Developed via a partnership with several major Dallas corporations, the center offers over 30 non-credit elective seminars yearly in four primary skill areas. These include preparing for career success; communication and interpersonal skills; teamwork and team building; and coaching, developing, motivation, and influencing.
The program has a physical center but is also a conceptual force permeating the entire MBA experience. It is a critical component of the Cox MBA experience. It is neither "window-dressing" nor a piecemeal program but a comprehensive approach to leadership development.
By design, all MBA Business Leadership Center (BLC) programs are delivered by corporate executives, not university faculty. These "outsiders" bring real-world experiences and cases to the classroom. Corporations by which MBA Business Leadership Center (BLC) instructors have been employed include American Airlines, Arthur Andersen Consulting, AT &T, Delta Airlines, EDS, FedEx, Franklin Covey Co., Frito-Lay, Inc., Greyhound Lines, Inc., IBM, JC Penney, Nortel, Pearle Vision, Inc., Perot Systems Corporation, Southwestern Bell, The SABRE Group, Xerox Corporation, and Zale Corporation. The majority of the BLC’s programs are underwritten by these and other corporations and consulting organizations.
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