Strategic Management News 

What do you get when you combine business strategy and students from 16 different majors at BYU? A group dedicated to learning and applying strategic principles to any career path. The Business Strategy Society at the BYU Marriott School of Business helps all BYU students see how strategy can be used every day to accomplish any goal.

The more Breann Hunt learns about social impact causes, the more she envisions businesses changing the way they operate forever. The BYU Marriott School of Business strategy senior hopes to change the industry as a social impact consultant who helps businesses take on bigger roles in making a difference in their communities. Hunt is studying strategic management at BYU Marriott because she believes the program will give her the tools to help companies make those changes.

After drinking a soda on his way home from campus, BYU Marriott School of Business alum Ryan Smith was surprised to find his student apartment did not have any way to recycle his empty can. After reading a BYU survey that showed the majority of students also wanted to recycle, the 2016 strategy alum started thinking of the idea for Recyclops, a gig economy recycling company. Running his own business while taking classes allowed Smith to learn much more from the strategy program. Although Recyclops almost failed, applying the principles he learned in the classroom to his work helped Smith produce a multimillion-dollar company.

Four years ago, BYU Marriott alum Stephen Farnsworth felt like he was metaphorically in the best seat on the wrong bus. He held an enjoyable position at a company that valued his contributions, but he also wanted to move technology forward by working at a smaller startup company. In order to reach his goals, Farnsworth took a risk—one that has paid off with a product marketing position at Workato, a workforce automation company.

Every year, each department in the BYU Marriott School of Business selects one outstanding student to receive the Bateman Award, which recognizes excellence both inside and outside the classroom. The award is named after Merrill J. Bateman, who served as the dean of BYU Marriott from 1975–79 and the president of BYU from 1996–2003. 

At home in Australia, Jaysen Valdes felt like he was “marinating in stagnation” and that his goals were out of reach. However, thanks to his own grit and the resources available at the BYU Marriott School of Business, the senior in the strategy program now uses his business skills to reach his own aspirations and to help early-stage organizations around the world reach theirs. 

After decades of leading educational institutions such as the Harvard Business School and BYU–Idaho, Kim B. Clark is still sharing intellectual and spiritual knowledge with students as the NAC Professor of Business at the BYU Marriott School of Business. With a career in education that spans more than forty years, Clark considers his work at BYU Marriott to be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

A well-known adage states that the one constant is change. As the world continues to change in the coming years, business professionals will continue to adapt to new technologies and norms. Even though students cannot be prepared for all changes that come their way, a new class at the BYU Marriott School of Business aims to familiarize students with the technologies needed to make decisions during their future careers.

If you know Austin Henline, a senior in the strategy program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, then you know you can’t think about him without having the word “connection” come to mind. During his time as a student, Henline has gathered and shared a wealth of knowledge on ways that college students can optimize their use of LinkedIn to connect with employers and recruiters alike. Beyond linking up with those online, Henline also makes an effort to connect with his fellow BYU Marriott students in the classroom.

Case competitions test students’ business skills, work ethic, and stamina, but few people find that case competitions bring out their emotional side. However, Liz Dixon often sheds joyful tears as she watches her students present their solutions and find success at international case competitions. Through her work as an adjunct professor of management communications at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Dixon empowers students to excel in many different areas, and she loves seeing them succeed.

Ben Lewis, an associate professor in the management department at the BYU Marriott School of Business, recently received the Emerging Scholar Award from the Organizations and the Natural Environment (ONE) division of the Academy of Management. The award was presented at the ONE business meeting at the Annual Conference for the Academy of Management. This virtual meeting was held in August 2020.

With an open road and more than two thousand miles ahead of him, Matthew LeBaron started a bike ride across the country to raise money for juvenile diabetes research. Such a journey would be daunting for even the most experienced cyclist, and LeBaron hadn’t ridden more than twenty miles in a day before he began the journey. However, LeBaron, a BYU Marriott School of Business strategy graduate, remained committed to his goal to bike from California to Florida.

At fifteen years old, BYU Marriott strategy junior Marissa Barlow once failed to find the perfect swimsuit to take on a family vacation, an experience that would help define her young career.

When M’Kenna Breckenridge, a senior in the strategy program at BYU Marriott School of Business, first got an internship offer from CVS Health, she didn’t anticipate that she’d be completing that internship at her kitchen table. For Breckenridge and dozens of other BYU Marriott second-year strategy students, an unanticipated change brought growth and unique skills that they will carry into their future careers.

She might be dealing with a last-minute cancellation or organizing presentations while stuck at a Starbucks in a snowstorm, but Anne Sledd always finds creative ways to make things happen. In her role as a department assistant for the management department at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Sledd also serves as an on-the-spot events coordinator, with a goal of creating moments of connection for everyone associated with the school.

As a high school student, Ashtynne Wade wanted to bring light into the lives of those who faced difficult challenges. So, she organized an event where participants built chains of glow sticks and raised money to support single mothers and children in poverty. Now, as a senior in the strategy program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Wade continues to add light to the world in a different way—by mentoring others as she builds her future in the consulting industry.

BYU Marriott assistant professor of strategy Timothy Gubler grew up building things. “From a young age and throughout my schooling, I crawled through attics pulling electrical wire, worked into the night installing electrical outlets and switches, and designed electrical circuitry for my family’s electrical contracting business,” he says. While he’s no longer working in the family business, his passion for building today extends to researching and teaching business strategy.   

Whether he's dealing with career changes, family illness, financial struggles, or even "gnarly teeth," BYU Marriott strategy graduate Nathan Winn has been determined to move forward with a smile.

BYU Marriott strategy alum Eli Tucker isn’t afraid to make changes to his life plan as he goes. As an incoming freshman, he was set on studying computer science, but he then changed his career path to business strategy. More recently, he made the decision to step away from his position at one of the world’s biggest companies in order to travel the world. Now that the coronavirus pandemic has delayed his world trip, he’s once again adapting his plan. Through it all, he is learning to find happiness in the moment.

The BYU Marriott School of Business named eleven recent graduates as 2020 Merrill J. Bateman Outstanding Student Award winners.