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May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Targeted M.B.A.'s Take Aim at Defense Spending
By
Kelsey Sheehy
Business schools are training defense executives through industry-focused graduate programs
JewishWorldReview.com | (USNWR)
Absorbing budget cuts while maintaining the integrity of your product is a difficult task in any industry, but when potential cuts total $500 billion and your product is national security, the challenge amplifies.
"Quality and mission assurance are important to a magnitude more than any other industry," says Andy White, director of the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) M.B.A. program at the University of Tennessee--Knoxville . "We have to improve the business processes and efficiencies in order to maintain the level of security that America has come to expect and require in a very threatening world."
By teaching classic business concepts such as accounting, logistics, and supply chain management to leaders from the Department of Defense, as well as the corporations and small business tasked with supplying and supporting the defense industry, White says UT--Knoxville's A&D M.B.A. program can help the military operate more efficiently.
"If we can help our students and research sponsors improve their business practices and processes, then we're ultimately playing a small but important role in improving national security and making tax dollars go further," White says.
While pinpointing potentially wasteful spending is helpful in a classroom environment, addressing it amid a bureaucracy defined by complex supply chains, billion dollar contracts, and production schedules that span years can be tricky, says John Kirkpatrick, a technical manager with the U.S. Army who recently completed UT--Knoxville's A&D M.B.A. program.
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But when Kirkpatrick identified potential cost savings upward of $8 billion in the Defense Department's contract and acquisition process via his M.B.A. research project, he managed to turn some of his theoretical solutions into real-life process improvements.
"To see it practically applied has been a huge benefit," says Kirkpatrick, who took steps to improve planning, communication, and tracking of defense contracts and acquisitions in his workplace. "By applying tools learned through the program and mentorships, we were able to see direct results through cost savings or affordability."
UT--Knoxville's College of Business is one of a handful of business schools offering M.B.A. programs tailored to the needs of the defense industry.
Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management has been training comptrollers--accountants within the Department of Defense tasked with managing spending--since 1952. The National Defense Executive M.B.A. program at George Mason University in Virginia teaches business concepts to defense executives via a 15- to 21-month program available online or in person.
The yearlong executive M.B.A. program at UT--Knoxville was born out of an advisory committee made up of defense industry players from the U.S. Air Force, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin, among others, says White, the A&D M.B.A. director.
"Someone mentioned, 'Wouldn't it be neat if there was a program somewhere where A&D organizations could send their high-potential leaders, and they could study alongside each other?'" White says.
Eight months later, UT--Knoxville started the first class in what quickly developed into a full-fledged executive M.B.A. in 2004.
Enrolling leaders from all sides of the defense industry--military, large corporations, and small businesses--brings together a diverse group of students who learn as much from each other over pizza as they do from their instructors, White says.
Hearing how a classmate from Delta Air Lines approached a supply chain issue inspired Janis Wood, deputy director of the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City, to look at her own processes differently.
"It really makes you challenge how we look at costs in the government," says Wood, who completed her A&D M.B.A. in 2005. "Are we really making good decisions, or are we making short-sighted decisions? I want to make sure we're looking at it right."
While the U.S. Air Force serves a slightly different customer than Delta, Wood says their business objectives overlap.
"They're trying to return money to a stakeholder and we're trying not to use taxpayer money wastefully," Woods says. "Elimination of waste is the bottom line."
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© 2012, U.S.News & World Report LP All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services
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