Executive conference earns raves

Bruce Johnstone speaks at the Center for Business Excellence's Executive Conference.

Opportunities for senior managers to interact with their peers and with Miami accountancy students proved to be a popular feature of the fourth annual Executive Conference, hosted by the Farmer School’s Center for Business Excellence (CBE) on April 14 and 15.

The conference, with its theme, “Managing Risk to Achieve Strategy in a Post-Economic Crisis World,” attracted an equal mix of company decision-makers and Farmer School graduate and undergraduate students.

Bruce Johnstone, managing director of Fidelity Investments, with over 40 years of experience at the firm, was keynote speaker. His lively presentation, illustrated by explanatory and often-amusing slides, focused on the diverse set of risks that influence today’s volatile economy and financial markets.

Interactive breakout sessions were led by executives from British Telecom, Cintas, Convergys, Estee Lauder, Marathon Oil, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and CBE co-directors Dr. Brian Ballou and Dr. Dan Heitger.

During formal and informal discussions, participants welcomed the opportunity to exchange ideas and perspectives.

“Feedback on the event, which was uniformly very positive, suggests that the high level of interaction between students and professionals in attendance continues to make the executive conference a truly distinctive event that showcases Miami’s goal to become ‘the engaged university,’” said Ballou.

Heitger explained that the annual conference is a direct outgrowth of CBE’s mission.

“This year’s conference continued our focus on the most timely and critical issues affecting the integrity, leadership, and transparency of executives working through today’s very difficult economic conditions,” he said. “Our goal is to present information that will help attendees map strategies for their companies, and to enable them to share insights and experiences with each other.”

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