2020 Deloitte Sponsorship Report

2019 - 2020 Academic Year - Annual Report

DELOITTE SPONSORSHIP REPORT

DELOITTE-SPONSORED PROGRAMMING AT ROSS’ SANGER LEADERSHIP CENTER

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leader is not afraid to be bold. To transform the status quo. To create inclusive communities where everyone has a voice.

The Sanger Leadership Center at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business knows these things. It knows that within us all is the ability to lead. The Deloitte Foundation knows the importance of strong leadership and Sanger’s role in delivering it at U-M, an institution committed to developing society’s Leaders and Best. Five years ago, the Deloitte Foundation established the U-M Leadership Collaboration Fund at Ross, a move that played an essential role in the acceleration of innovative, interdisciplinary leadership development across campus.

During the 2019-2020 Academic Year, the Deloitte Foundation’s extremely generous support helped Sanger Leadership Center build upon its robust Business + Impact Challenge for Full-Time MBAs and MAcc/MSCM students. Deloitte’s generosity was also essential in Sanger’s addition of a resilience component in the Ross Leaders Academy, the center’s signature learning academy.

Thank you for your philanthropy in helping U-M and Ross develop the leaders of tomorrow.

BUSINESS + IMPACT

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o much of a student’s success during their four years on campus depends on how they kick off their academic journey during their first year. Sanger helps to make sure that students get off on the right foot through innovative orientation programming. More than 600 students took part in Sanger orientation programming last year. This programming helps students learn who they want to be, what they want to accomplish in life, and how to get the most out of their Ross experience.

FULL-TIME MBA BUSINESS + IMPACT CHALLENGE

Conducted in August 2019, the revised FTMBA onboarding program, which brought in more behavioral skill building, bold ideas and research, and the new Big Picture exercise, achieved its highest evaluations ever.

Big Picture Exercise: The Big Picture exercise is designed to creatively highlight conflict and communication gaps that can occur in teams placed in high-pressure situations. Students receive the unfortunate news that their design for a key client was ruined in the mail, and they must recreate the painting based on scarce information in a limited amount of time. The students are organized into a hierarchy where a few senior managers hold the most information, general workers know close to nothing but own central tasks, and middle managers must liaise between the two groups. At the end of the experience, students not only delivered murals to the client but learned some valuable lessons in leadership and teamwork along the way.

Business + Impact Challenge: Partnering with Amazon, students were tasked with providing innovative solutions to the following prompt: How might Amazon serve the Base of the Pyramid in India, achieving both ethical impact and profitability? Students fine-tuned the scope of the challenge by choosing to focus on one of the following areas: Food, Energy, Health, Transportation, Work and Economic Growth, or Education. Students were exposed to more than 15 subject matter experts who introduced them to concepts related to the challenge.

Deliverables included a final pitch, press release, a booth showcasing their work, and learning insights. Teams were evaluated on their clarity of the solution, cultural awareness, rigor, viability, and impact. Based on student survey responses, the Challenge was successful in helping students gain self-awareness, connect with classmates, try out some new leadership behaviors in a safe space (leading others, teams, and organizations) and establish learning goals for their time at Ross.

Summary of Success: The updated FTMBA program was deemed to be a resounding success, with student evaluations praising its positive impacts. Consider the following: • 90% of students strongly agreed or agreed they gained skills about solving problems creatively.

• 96% of students strongly agreed or agreed they gained skills about managing team dynamics and work styles.

• 91% of students strongly agreed or agreed they gained relevant leadership skills by participating.

• 95% of students strongly agreed or agreed they will apply the skills they gained to develop as a leader.

• 92% of students strongly agreed or agreed the action-oriented format was conducive to their learning.

• 95% of students strongly agreed or agreed that participating increased their interest in leadership development.

“As the Big Picture activity progressed, it became apparent that the titles were just titles, and empowering leadership within the section was the best way to succeed. After our intermission full of thoughtful discussion, we returned with a revamped strategy and energy, finishing the project with smiles all around!”

- Ashruth Easwar, MBA ’21 “This experience was a phenomenal way to kick-start the Ross experience. As a veteran, I truly value the role of teams in leadership development, and this exercise underlined how serious Ross is about cultivating meaningful business leadership.”

- Dave Horvath, FTMBA ’21

B+I for MM, MAcc, & MSCM STUDENTS

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eloitte sponsorship also helped the Sanger Leadership Center to bring Business + Impact to students in Ross’ Master of Management (MM), Master of Accounting (MAcc), and Master of Supply Chain Management (MSC) programs.

This program took place in October 2019 and was designed to build community between distinct audiences, reinforce the school’s mission to use business as a vehicle for positive impact, and develop critical leadership skills needed for today’s turbulent work environment. These leadership skills include: managing team dynamics and different work styles; solving problems creatively and driving results; and leading change and innovation.

The Challenge consisted of two main components:

1. Big Picture Exercise: Students learned about the ins and outs of team dynamics, hierarchy, and how to leverage personal and group strengths to collaborate more effectively; and 2. Partnering with Ann Arbor’s Eberwhite Elementary School, students were challenged to develop a proposal to reinvigorate the Eberwhite playground. They achieved this by developing a comprehensive plan that: addressed the steering committee’s team dynamics; brought the element of inclusive play into marketing efforts; generated fundraising capital; and empowered the community to take action.

“This year’s Business + Impact Challenge not only gave our students critical insight into how to lead innovative teams, but it will also promote disability awareness and make a difference in our local community,” said Lindy Greer, faculty director of the Sanger Leadership Center. “We were excited to partner with the Ann Arbor Public Schools and absolutely thrilled with what the master’s students were able to achieve and the innovative solutions they proposed.”

“B+I Challenge pushed me to get the most of my abilities as a leader to coordinate work with a big team. It showed me the importance of mutual respect, diversity of viewpoint and trust. It helped hone my project management skills and management of organization concepts.”

- Sushrut Sardesai MSCM ’20

ROSS LEADERS ACADEMY

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he Ross Leaders Academy (RLA), Sanger’s year-long leadership development community for select students across campus, is a signature learning community for Sanger. This past year, Sanger added a new session focused on resilience.

The session was evaluated very highly, with 95% of students strongly agreeing or agreeing that as a result of the session, they learned how to be more resilient using a model created by the Sanger team during times of adversity. Throughout the entire program, 50 students participate, learn from a diverse set of peers, receive team executive coaching, and engage with more than 30 years’ worth of research advanced by U-M’s innovative faculty.

Summary of Success: The impact of RLA is evident from an impressive 100% of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that they: • Gained relevant leadership skills by participating • Will apply the skills they gained to develop as a leader • Believed the action-oriented format was conducive to their learning • Felt the program increased their interest in leadership development

“RLA was a comprehensive leadership program that directly resulted in me stretching myself to learn and grow so that I could better myself as a leader. It provided me with structure and access to resources to empower myself to explore the path of self-development. RLA challenged me to raise the bar for myself, and I’m so grateful for the challenge set before me to be my best self.”

- Jumanah Saadeh, MBA ’24 “The Ross Leaders Academy was the bright spot of my senior year because it gave me the resources and time to pause and evaluate what I wanted out of my life, my career, and my future goals. Having the space to be vulnerable and connect with other students from different programs brought clarity and perspective to the challenges I was facing in my own life and allowed me to receive valuable feedback that greatly changed the way I view myself and others.”

- Michael Fabatz, LSA ’20

Thank you, Deloitte, for helping Michigan Ross shape the leaders of TOMORROW through exceptional leadership programming TODAY.