Duek 2004 serials Part 1:Free For All

sfish

September 9, 2003
DP (New York):  Hey Hitesh, recognizing that top B-schools are pretty strong in all academic areas. However, each school tends to excel in some field. What field would you say Fuqua excels in?  
Hitesh Anand:  Fuqua prides itself in being a general management school. That being said we rank pretty high in Marketing and Finance too. Fuqua also has a strong consulting focus with its Small Business Consulting Program and the Mentored Internship.  

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Geoff (Ladera Ranch):  Hi Hitesh... I've been reading quite a bit about the "Team Fuqua" concept and am wondering whether this is just a branding of something that most b-schools have or whether there is truly something different at Fuqua. Could you elaborate on this a little and let us know what your experience has been?  
Hitesh Anand:  Hi Geoff, "Team Fuqua" is much more than a marketing concept. From the very get go you are divided into teams in a lot of the first year core classes. Your success depends upon the team's success and vice versa. This collaborative atmosphere has fostered the Team Fuqua concept. My experience with this has been great so far. The attitude here is that we succeed when we all succeed. However, don't take this to mean that we do not strive for individual excelence. It just means that we care more than just our own success and want our team and classmates to succeed. As an international student from India where the competitive spirit is very high, Fuqua was a pleasant surprise for me.  

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DP (New York):  that's very encouraging to hear - what drew you to Fuqua?  
Hitesh Anand:  DP. When I was looking to apply to B-schools I was looking for general managment programs that had a combination of case and lecture. Fuqua, ranked very high in my list of those programs. What actually sold me was when I visited Fuqua for my interview and for the Blue Devil Weekend. The smallnes of the program and the collaborative spirit that it fostered were a few compelling draws for me to Fuqua.  

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Geoff (Ladera Ranch):  Hitesh, could you elaborate a little on your background and why you chose Fuqua?  
Hitesh Anand:  Hi Geof, I come from the tech industry. I have a Bs from India and a MSEE from Arizona State. I worked in a Telecom company in India and after my Masters worked in the semiconductor industry in design, development and marketing. I choose Fuqua primarily owing to its general managment emphasis in education. Having been a specialist all my life I felt a need to broaden my horizons. Fuqua fitted very well into my needs. Additionally, it programs such as the Small Business Consulting and the Mentored Internship afford a way to apply my learning in real companies while art school.  

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Geoff (Ladera Ranch):  How critical is the interview? You noted that you are from India, so I'm assuming that you traveled quite a distance. Do you think that helped your candidacy quite a bit?  
Hitesh Anand:  Geoff, I am not involved with admissions. So I will not be able to give you any insights there. That being said from what I was told last year, Interview is a part of the package that you are evaluated on. I was here in the US at the time I applied to Fuqua. Most internationals are either interviewed by alums or over the phone.  

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DP (New York):  Based on your experience so far, what are the main areas that Fuqua needs to improve in?  
Hitesh Anand:  I think Fuqua could do a lot more in developing relations with International Companies and get them to recruit on or off-campus.  

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DP (New York):  that's good to know -- in researching b-schools, many of them appear similar at many levels. How do you think fuqua differentiates itself from some of the other top bschools?  
Hitesh Anand:  One big way Fuqua differentiates itself from other schools it the amount of student involvement in the way things are done in the school. The school literally partners with the students to provide ongoing improvements. The other way Fuqua differentiates itself is by being great both in teaching and research. By virtue of its six week terms Fuqua has been able to attract some top-notch new faculty as a part of its ongoing strategic initiatives.  

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Geoff (Ladera Ranch):  Duke is highly touted for marketing. How much of the student body would you say come from such a background or are planning to move into marketing upon graduation?  
Hitesh Anand:  Don't quote me on this but I believe at least 25% of the class come from a marketing or similar background. This is just a representative sample based on my section. And about 30%-40% or so of the class normally goes into marketing. Bear in mind that a lot of marketing folks go into other functional areas whereas a lot of non-marketers change careers in to marketing. Incidentally, Finance was the most common function in this year's internship  

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DP (New York):  One of the things that drew me to the Fuqua program was its claim on its website that "the Duke MBA program enables you to challenge the status quo and find new, creative ways to move an organization forward." -- how have you seen this attitude reflected in your experience there?  
Hitesh Anand:  I can talk about three initiative that I was personally involved where I helped chang the status quo. First, I was a part of the 2003 Blue Devil Admit Weekend committee. As the academic coordinator my partner and I completely revamped the way Fuqua academics was to be showcased to the admitted students. Instead of lectures we proposed to divided the student in 5 groups - with each group given a case and the discussion led by the professors. We felt that this was more indicative of how classes run at Fuqua and so should be told as such to the admits. Needless to say the administration went along with us. Second, I am a TA in the Managerial Effectiveness Core class for the first year. Last year we sat in focus group to give us feedback to the prof on how he could make their course more effective. And this year a large part of the valid inputs were accepted. This FuquaChat, was actually an initiative of one of our Alum and the admission committee. In general if you have great ideas and take the initiative to execute them, Fuqua will help you challenge the current ways of working and move the school ahead.  

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Geoff (Ladera Ranch):  Looks like time is running out. Sincere thanks for taking time today to answer our questions.  
Hitesh Anand:  Hope your questions were answered.