College of Business Faculty-in-Business Program

Business firms continue to face rapid changes in ways of doing business, delivering products and services, relating to suppliers and competing for customers.  The faculty's understanding of these changes is important for updating course content and ensuring the currency of curricula.

The College of Business Advisory Board established the Faculty-In-Business Program to provide an opportunity for business faculty to observe and hear about developments occurring within business organizations in the Puget Sound and Central regions of Washington state.  Faculty have visited the following sites since its inception in Winter 2000.

Microsoft Corporation (Redmond)

• Board contact/facilitator: John Spencer, Manager, Microsoft Research Division
• Focus: Human-Computer Interaction (from the Research group), TabletPC (from the product group), and possibly Security issues (from the Security group).
• Facility tour, lunch and presentation of E-Home.

Tommy Bahama (Seattle)

• Board contact/facilitator: Doug Wood, Chief Operations Officer, and Joan Wright, Vice President for Human Resources
• Focus: Company history, business model, growth and sales, and qualities deemed essential for good employees.
• Facility tour.

The Boeing Company (Renton)

• Board contact/facilitator: Randy Baseler
• Focus: Presentation by Randy Baseler, Market Overview and Product Strategy, and "737 Design & Build--'Then vs. Now'" (TBD)
• Factory tour.

The Boeing Company (Everett)

• Board contact/facilitator: Karen Jones
• Focus: Presentation by Tim Meskill, BCA Director of Marketing and Business Strategy
• Factory tour and then a tour of the Everett site.

Starbucks (Kent)

• Board contact/facilitator: Linda Clark-Santos
• Focus: Coffee Operations, Quality Assurance and Supply Chain Management
• Tour of the Kent Roasting Plant and distribution center

Knight Vale & Gregory (Tacoma; regional accounting firm that received the "Best Use of Technology in an Accounting Practice" recognition in 1999-2000)

• Board contact/facilitator: Clark Daffern
• Focus: the changing accounting industry, IT infrastructure and business applications
• IT demonstration

Pacific Aerospace & Electonics (Wenatchee; international engineering and technical manufacturing company specializing in high-performance components and subassemblies for aerospace, defense electronics, medical, geotechnology and transportation industries)

• Board contact/facilitator: Don Wright
• Focus: strategy, product development, customers, IS and corporate quality management
• Tour of facilities

AT&T Wireless (Redmond)

• Board contact/facilitator: Umesh Amin
• Focus: Wireless Industry and Its Eco-System; Technology Development, Supply Chain and the TDG Process; the Role of Wireless Portals and M-Commerce
• Tour: Research Lab

PACCAR (Renton)

• Board contact/facilitator: John Hartquist
• Focus: PACCAR Operations and Industry Dynamics; Supply Chain Management/PACCAR Purchasing; Six Sigma/Quality Program
• Tour: Kenworth Assembly Plant in Renton

AFC/Seattle Coffee Company (downtown Seattle; Vashon Island; Renton)

• Board contact/facilitator: David Reed
• Focus: corporate strategy; Seattle's Best Coffee & Torrefazione Italia--supply chain and production; global logistics and distribution
• Tour: Roasting Plant (Vashon island) and Distribution Center (Renton)