;o\\ sa\\i^d\uoD \«JLaA.as ivbA •aavnavti^ 50 p\aB 3X P xx\ s'Wrvxrvvicxi.dLo c\oi -\xvocve xxx«»\ o^»xi^2v\r> v ApuaaanD X^aiDos SvipunoDDV ^HJL • sS\ipaa\ii pD\xnoD ^vaop>xs^ji\ox^ A\\T2xa\xaS s^xxcdpr^ 1 «1 FRANK E. NOVAK & ASSOCIATES An Insurance & Investment Company Offering a comprehensive Life Insurance Plan specifically designed for college students Specializing in Life e Health e Pensions Business Financial Planning 713-846-4751 4103 Texas Avenue Suite 201 —- Bryan Place Singleness of purpose drives top execs By ROXANNE SMITH High schoolers operate small businesses Business education for youth The major characteristic com mon to corporate chief executives is singleness purpose according to a study undertaken by an execu tive recruiting firm. The study, compiled by Busi ness Careers Inc., a firm based in New York and Chicago, said that almost every successful executive had determined early in his career that his ultimate goal was to be a corporate chief executive. Curious about why some people were selected while others equally qualified were not. Business Careers Inc, studied 250 candi dates being considered for six cor- Finance Association announces resume book The Finance Association has announced that it will begin work on a resume book to be distributed in the Fall of 1980. The resume book will be sent to over 125 businesses and gives stu dents a broad exposure to a variety of careers, said Howard Akin, president of the association. In addition to being included in the resume book, each student will receive individual copies for his personal use. Akin said. These personal copies are valuable asset when interviewing because of their professional appearance. The cost of publishing the re sume book is partially deferred by contributions from various businesses, so the cost to indi vidual students is nominal, Akin said. Resume forms will be available in mid-April for those students in terested in being included in the book. If any changes or additions need to be made, they can be done at the beginning of the Fall semes ter, Akin said. porate presidential positions. Five major factors proved characteristic of all of the successful candidates, the study indicated. Singleness of purpose, steady achievement, willingness to de vote time and energy to achieving their goals and emotional committ ment to careers which they find satisfying are factors which are ex pected to be common to success in almost all top executive positions. The study also found an unex pected element. Contrary to popu lar belief about executives, a strong majority of the successful candi dates have happy, stable home lives. According to the study, the top officials are also likely to have the following characteristics in common: — development of interpersonal skills in a way which makes people comfortable dealing with them and responsive to them; — ability to speak and write effectively; — curiosity and interest in new approaches to old problems, in terest in new techniques, new merchandise and new services; — ability to project self- confidence and to make decisions quickly even when they may be uncertain themselves about the rightness of their decisions; — sensitivity to social nd politic al relationships within their orga nization; — ability to set priorities yet still remain flexible; — determination to improve one's own skills through self development; — ability to manage failures through self-control. "These executives expect suc cess and take it for granted," said Herbert T. Mines, chairman of the board of the firm that undertook the survey. By SHARON RENFROW At a time when business is being criticized by many segments of the population, the nation's youth is being given the opportunity to bet ter understand the free enterprise system through a program caUed Junior Achievement. A non-profit organization founded in 1919, JA is the nation's oldest economic education prog ram for young people. It teaches students business concepts and practices by helping them operate their own small businesses. "There is no other program where students can get a head start in business besides JA," said Fred R. Miller, division administrative director of JA of Southeast Texas. Miller, active in JA for the past six years, has helped establish the program in 60 Houston-area high schools. He has also recently started programs in' La Grange, Bay City, San Antonio and Austin. Although there is currently no JA program in the Bryan-College Station area. Miller said that attempts to start one next year are being made. The program is directed toward tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade high school students, he said. Under the guidance of adult advisors sponsored by local businesses, students involved in JA sell stock, elect officers, choose a product, buy raw materials and then produce, promote and sell their product or service. At die end of the school year, the student entrepreneurs liquidate Building report By PHILLIP DUPREE The new Academic and Agency Building to house the College of Business Administration and other units of the University should be completed by June 1981, said Harry Zenner, project coordi nator. The building will become the single largest on campus encom passing 256,000 square feet and costing nearly $16 million includ ing construction costs, landscap ing and equipment, Zenner said. The expansion is necessary in order to keep pace with the grow ing enrollment at Texas A&M. The College of Business Administra tion, for example, has grown from less that 2,000 students in 1974 to over 4,500 in 1980. Other University units to occupy the new building include the Departments of English and Statistics, the Texas Real Estate Re search Center, the Executive De velopment Programs, the Univer sity Research Foundation, Speech Communications and the Texas Transportation Institute, Zenner said. About 1,000 offices have been allocated to faculty and staff. And over 40 classrooms, located mostly on the first floor, will accommo date nearly 2,400 at a time. This should alter student traffic on cam pus considerably. The building will also have spe cial facilities such as specialized labs and equipment, and several computer terminals, Zenner said. their company's assets, publish an annual report and return di vidends to their stockholders. Students involved in the JA program tend to be very motivated and have high academic stand ings, Miller said. "They really want to learn about the American economic system," he said. Though JA makes use of school facilities, it is not a school- sponsored program and therefore relies on private funding for sup port, Miller said. Many major corporations in Houston, such as Sears Roebuck, Exxon, Gulf and Shell contribute to the program. Miller said. Addi tionally, over 70 businesses spon sor J A activities in Houston by pro viding advisors to the programs held at the high schools. The JA program recently has ex tended into four new segments. Miller said. — Project Business is a nine to 18 week economic education prog ram that supplements existing so cial studies or economics classes in the eighth and ninth grades. In this activity, a business executive works with a regular teacher for one class period each week. — Applied Management offers a variety of practical and theoretical business and economic education activities for college students. — Job Education is a work-study program for inner-city teen-agers. — Economic Awareness is a busi ness and economic education program for individuals who are not involved with JA. This prog ram develops and distributes edu cational literature to those who have inquired about JA activities and have expressed an interest in learning about the U.S. economic system. "The purpose of the JA program is to help students develop a better attitude about business and the economic system in general," Mil ler said. Though not all JA participants eventually go into corporate life. Miller maintains that a basic understanding of business and the economy is helpful in any future profession. Construction nears completion on the Academic & Agency Building (top photo). Bottom photo reveals the artist's conception of the nearly $16 million project once completed. The Business Page 6 Former Harvard Dean to address MBA banquet A former dean of the Harvard Business School who is also a for mer Aggie is coming back to Texas A&M to address the MBA Associa tion of the College of Business Administration. Dr. Lawrence E. Fouraker, '47, will be the featured speaker at the Second Annual Invitational Case Competition Awards Banquet April 12. Fouraker, who also received his MS degree from A&M in 1948, will address graduate business stu dents and faculty members on the use of the case method. The ban quet begins at 7 pm in the Ramada Inn Ballroom. (See related story page 1.) Fouraker received his Ph.D. Dr. Lawrence E. Fouraker from the University of Colorado in 1951 and holds an honorary mas ter's degree from Harvard Univer sity. In addition to his various teaching and administrative duties, Fouraker is on the Board of Directors of nine organizations in cluding Citicorp and Citibank, N.A., and The Gillette Company. Study predicts corporate failure By TED TREAT Business researchers Drs. Gary Giroux and Peter Rose of Texas A&M University are developing a computer model that could predict corporate failure as much as seven years before the failure occurs. Previous studies have only been successful in making these predic tions one to three years in adv ance. The ability to predict corporate failure, however, has the implica tion of eventually guaranteeing the company's bankruptcy. Although Giroux acknowledged that the study could be a "kiss of death," he said that the company survey would be mostly beneficial because it would help determine the type of "corrective action" that is needed to save the enterprise. Giroux and Rose have achieved a 80 to 97 percent success rate in predicting corporate failures but so far their study has been entirely post mortum. Rose, a professor of finance, ex plained that part of their success is because of their access to COM- PUSTAT Industrial Files to pre pare their data bank. COMPUS- TAT computer tapes contain the basic financial records of a select group of major U.S. corporations. The 18 variables used in the study included evaluations of pro fits, liquidity, inventory, the mix of sources of funds for the company and the rates of return on invested capital. Woman exec to hold presentation Marie Tarvin Garland, president of Sun City Delivery in El Paso will visit the College of Business Admi nistration April 15 & 16 as part of the College's BUSINESS WEEK activities. Garland started her business, a multi-faceted delivery service, in 1969. Since that time, it has not experienced a growth less than 30 percent each year. Garland will conduct a presenta tion entitled "Starting a Small Business: Career Development for Entrepreneurs" at 9 am April 16 in Room 137 of the MSC. All interested persons are en couraged to attend. Prof backs oil companies By KYLE KNOX Recent research in the area of oil company profits has brought out facts that are contrary to current popular belief, according to Dr. Gerry Keim, associate professor in the Department of Management at Texas A&M Univer sity. Keim's research articles have appeared in regional newspapers and his brief on oil company profits was read into the Congressional Record — Senate. A public policy expert, Keim has charged the media with slanted cover age of the oil industry "Contrary to popular belief, oil company profits are not excessive," he said. "In many ways, the oil companies don't do any better than the average Fortune 500 com panies, and a lot worse than some." Keim found that an individual investing in the broad casting industry in 1978 would have an average of 33.3 percent return on investment, as compared with a return of 11.77 percent in petroleum refining. "If oil company profits are excessive, then broadcasting profits must be obscene," he said. Using the two common ways of measuring profitabil ity, return on sales and return on stockholders equity, Continued page 4. Companies to Participate in April 16 and 17 "Career Fair" Recruiting interests by college majors J. B. Goodwin Realtors, Austin Business majors, Real Estate majors, and anyone interested in Real Estate as Cafeterias, Inc. All business majors and agriculture majors. H. E. Butt Grocery Co. Marketing majors, Management ma jors, general business majors. Dow Chemical U.S.A. All disciplines interested in Marketing Getty Oil Company Accounting majors, Finance majors, and Business majors with a minimum of 12 hours in Accounting. Main Hurdman & Cranstoun BBA's, MBA’s and MPA's in Accounting and Tax. IBM Corp. Most Business, Engineering, Science, and Liberal Arts majors. Marathon Oil Company Accounting majors and Finance ma jors with a minimum of 15 hours in Accounting, for the Houston Division. Cullen Center Bank Finance and Accounting majors. Continental Pipeline Co. Finance, Management and Economics majors. Ford Motor Credit Company All Business majors. Touche Ross Accounting majors Arthur Young Accounting majors International Harvester Marketing and Management majors, BBAs. City of Houston, Civil Service Div. All Business majors, Accounting ma jors, Computer Operators, En gineering majors and Chemistry majors. Exxon Company U.S.A. Accounting majors and Finance ma jors with 20 or more hours in Accounting. * Burroughs Corp. Business majors, Computer Science majors and Math majors. Bank of the Southwest Finance and Accounting majors. Van Waters & Rogers, a division of Univar Accounting majors. Management ma jors, Marketing majors and Economics majors. Lone Star Gas Co. Business majors Tenneco Oil Exploration & Pro duction Accounting majors United Energy Resources, Inc. Accounting majors, Finance majors, Computer Science majors and Engineering — Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Tecnology — majors. Safeway Stores, Inc. All business majors, any college de gree, students interested in a retail career with Safeway. Penn Mutual Life Insurance — Leroy D. Gordon & Assoc. Business majors, Psychology majors and Sociology majors. Gulf Oil Corp. Accounting majors, Finance majors, Management majors and General Business majors with 9 or more hours of Accounting. Houston Lighting and Power Co. Marketing majors, Management ma jors with strong technical back grounds, Finance majors, Accounting majors, Computer Science majors with business and engineering back grounds. Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Accounting majors. Arthur Andersen Accounting majors, Finance and Mar keting majors with Accounting courses and Computer-oriented majors. Brown & Root Business majors Price Waterhouse & Co. BBAs and MBAs in Accounting. Seidman & Seidman BBAs with major in Accounting Ernst & Whinney Accounting majors Coopers & Lybrand Accounting Majors Payless Cashways — Furrow's Bldg. Supplies Marketing majors, Management ma jors, general business majors, indust rial business, Finance majors. Procter & Gamble Marketing majors Companies to interview co-op students The Cooperative Education Office of Texas A&M University will hold special co-op interview days on April 17 and 18. A number of co-op employers will be on campus during that time to conduct interviews with pros pective co-op students for both summer and fall 1980 work terms, said C. Wayne Terrell, co-op coor dinator for business adminstra- tion. Business students who wish to interview during this time must first complete the proper paper work and undergo screening by Terrell. Interview sign-ups begin Tues day, April 8, Terrell said, stressing that the students must first obtain a Co-op Interview Authorization Card from him prior to registering for interviews at the Placement Center. Among the firms scheduled to participate are: Comptroller of the Currency (U.S. Department of Treasury), Dresser Industries, Marathon Oil Company, Brookhaven Country Club (Dal las), Dillards, Sakowitz, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Interested students should con tact Terrell for further information (845-4711). Insurance exec to address banquet Oscar L. Newton, Jr., vice presi dent of the American General Life Insurance Company, will address the Undergraduate Awards Ban quet April 16 as part of the College of Business Administration's BUSINESS WEEK activities. The banquet begins at 7 pm at the Brazos Center. Guests include the company representatives attending the "Career Fair," facul ty and staff of the College of Busi ness, and several hundred under graduate business students. (See related story page 1.) Newton has had 30 years of in surance experience with nearly 19 at American General. In his pre sent capacity as vice president, he works with the president on spe- Mr. Oscar L. Newton, Jr. rial projects and serves as a fre quent spokesman for American General, for the life insurance in dustry and for private enterprise. Newton has addressed state and national conventions, trade asso ciations, civic groups and cham bers of commerce in more than 30 states and in seven foreign coun tries. JOHNSON SUPPLY Offering service in: ★ Air conditioning ★ ★ Refrigeration ★ ★ Heating ★ 713-781-1100 Houston, Texas The Business Page 3