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University of Tampa director manages a study in strategyBy KYLE PARKS © St. Petersburg Times, published March 1, 2001
Weimer, 49, didn't earn his master's degree and start teaching at the University of Tampa until three years ago. But Weimer worked for years in high-tech jobs for companies such as Sprint and Oracle, and his real-world experience is a plus in his job as director of UT's Naimoli Institute for Business Strategy. Endowed by Tampa Bay Devil Rays managing general partner Vince Naimoli, the program gives UT students the chance to spend a semester analyzing an area company. Many graduate schools have similar programs, but UT's stands out because it is mandatory for all business students, including undergraduates. This is training that many business owners could use: Students learn how to study an industry, think of financing options and figure out how to market products. The needs of businesses also have been a topic in Weimer's part-time role as chairman of a Hillsborough County small business task force. Its job: recommend ways for the county to do more to help. The task force's report is due in May. Weimer talked to the St. Petersburg Times about the institute and his work: Q. What does the Institute for Business Strategy do? Weimer: The idea is to take theory from the classroom and apply it in a live experience. I go out and find area businesses that would like a student group to assess their strategy. Most don't have a strategy. We usually work with small businesses, but we've also done work for GTE, Xerox and Yale Industrial Trucks. We've done a lot of retail and service businesses, travel agents, florists, a few dot-coms. We also concentrate on non-profits. We teach that there are more than just for-profits in a community. Non-profits also need well-trained businesspeople. Q: What kinds of issues do students look at? Weimer: They spend a lot of time analyzing the internal operations of the company. But beyond the books, they ask things like: How do you buy? How do you hire? How do you market? How well is what you're doing matching up with the rest of your industry? Q: Do the students enjoy it? Weimer: It's a love-hate relationship. They hate it when they are going through it, then love the experience later. They get the same three credits as in any other class, but this is a ton of work. They give me four or five versions before they're done. Q: And does the program help them get jobs? Weimer: Oh, definitely. They can't give out the reports -- they go only to the company that's analyzed -- but they can describe the work, they have the vocabulary and they understand the concept of competitive advantage. They learn that strategy is a trade-off. Let's say your strategy is to pursue a career as an industrial photographer, say in architecture. The trade-off is that then you aren't chasing work as a wedding photographer. And each niche has overhead costs. Q: How does Vince Naimoli's endowment help the program? Weimer: It has paid for a lot of things we use. Nice leather binders for the reports, with brass nameplates. High-quality paper. We have a conference room with a computer and printer available at all hours to students, along with two laptops. Q: Does the institute's work fit the business school's mission? Weimer. Yes. We tell people we are going to help make the topics real. That philosophy filters down from our president, Dr. (Ron) Vaughn, who was once the business school dean. I have become somewhat of an academic now, I must admit. But while you have to understand the theories, we needed more practical stuff here to go with the theories. This is a teaching university, not a research university. The research done here is done not just to publish, but to bring things into the classroom. Q: How do you find companies to participate? Weimer: I find them by knocking on doors, every way I can. Q: Does it cost the company anything? Weimer: I tell them the only cost is a reference. We only require them to give us 12 hours of time over a semester, which is not that much. I don't want to charge anything because I don't want the students to be beholden to anyone as they do their reports. Q: What have you learned about area small businesses from your role as chairman of the Hillsborough small business task force? Weimer: I've seen that business owners don't just want money from government and other sources. They want help finding out information. I get tired of the term "small business." Officially, a small business can be as big as 500 people, with revenues of $20-million. And while that may not seem small to you or me, it is to Microsoft. Why should you eliminate anyone in offering services to businesses? If a guy has a 100-person company and wants to grow it to a 500-person business, why should he be deprived of that? Q. With the economy in a downturn, are your students more worried about getting jobs? Weimer: Students are always concerned about finding a job. I don't think it's any different from three years ago. Many of them would like to stay in Tampa, but they get nervous because there aren't a lot of big companies here. They may not feel the need to be with some giant company, but they want to go somewhere where there a lot of different opportunities. I think you are going to find that in any midsize city, though. Q. Does the dot-com meltdown make them nervous? Weimer: I don't think so. You learn that this isn't much different than what has happened throughout industry's evolution, with cars, steamboats, printing. There's a first wave, then some fall by the wayside. We are going into a second wave, and the companies that survive will be more stable. Q. What do you like to do when you aren't teaching? Weimer: Well, I find this (teaching) a hoot. But my wife and I like to get out on Sundays on our motorcycle -- it's a '92 Harley Davidson Road King. I also have two dogs I love to spend time with. Q. Does teaching make you feel young? Weimer: I am an old guy (laughs). But I am just crazy enough to like the students' energy. They are enthusiastic about their lives. It's nice to be in a situation where you can be upbeat all the time. Coming from industry, that is a nice feeling. A closer lookNAME: Alan Weimer AGE: 49 JOB: Teaches business management and runs Naimoli Institute for Business Strategy at University of Tampa. EDUCATION: Earned undergraduate degree in management from Sonoma State (Calif.) after going to night school for 10 years. Earned MBA from University of Tampa in 1996. JOB EXPERIENCE: A Virginia native, took his first job with Washington, D.C.-area chain called Desks and Furnishings. Taught himself about computers, then moved to California, getting jobs with Sprint and Oracle. ACADEMIA: After moving to Tampa to run a consulting office for Oracle, decided to take a break to get MBA. Then, he was asked to teach a course on computers and fell in love with teaching. THE INSTITUTE FOR BUSINESS STRATEGY: In its third year, the program has five-student teams that assess the strategy of area companies. Each semester, about 90 undergraduates and 75 graduate students are involved. Each student spends about 100 hours on his team's project, which is given to the company after a presentation.
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