The meetings offer ample opportunities for members to share information. For example, when Lithonia Lighting wanted to improve the shipping of its products, its chief information officer took advantage of an I/S RoundTable meeting to ask his colleague at The Home Depot about how they might go about doing so.

Faculty tailor RoundTable programs to the membership's interests, and they keep their constituencies informed by sharing references that may be inaccessible to those outside of academe. When a member of the Marketing RoundTable recently decided to reorganize its national accounts, marketing faculty quickly completed a literature search. Within 24 hours, the member had six timely articles in hand, including a "how to" on national account reorganization.

Deborah Butler, who directs the Society of Entrepreneurs, the newest of the RCB RoundTables, described this function as "an intimate search engine" through which members can access the combined knowledge of the university. The ultimate goal of the RoundTable is to make members more effective in their business efforts. "We look for ways to add value," Butler explained, "such as keeping members informed about activities across the university that would contribute to their education."

The forums are interactive by nature and have led to the development of initiatives between Atlanta's business practitioners and Georgia State. One outgrowth of the Human Resources RoundTable was an on-site educational program at the campus of Scientific-Atlanta, a company that enables cable operators to deliver digital and interactive TV services to subscribers around the world. Through this partnership, Scientific-Atlanta employees can earn credits leading to an MBA without leaving their corporate headquarters.

A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS

Regents' Professor of Marketing Kenneth Bernhardt traces the RoundTable concept to 1989, when he became chair of the Department of Marketing at the RCB. "I found that to do anything, you need money," he said. In trying to find ways to raise funds for the department, he considered forming an advisory council where he could "bring executives to the department, pretend we needed their advice and then hit them up for money. But I couldn't do it," he admitted. "It wasn't a good marketing approach."

Instead, Bernhardt framed the question from a marketing perspective. What could the department offer executives that would be so valuable they would gladly donate money to help support programs? "That was the right question." Bernhardt said.

At the time, he was president-elect of the American Marketing Association, whose mission is to enhance the professional development of its members. During the same time period, he was collaborating with a colleague at the University of California at Los Angeles, who introduced him to an international business roundtable that cultivated a network for senior executives. Marrying these two ideas of professional development and networking opportunities, Bernhardt developed the blueprint for a RoundTable in marketing at the RCB.

In researching the local business landscape, Bernhardt saw a great need for such a concept. "Executives in Atlanta knew everybody in their own industry, but they didn't know their counterparts at other companies," he said. "The marketing person at Delta knew everybody in the airline industry, but he didn't know his counterpart in marketing at Georgia-Pacific or UPS."

These marketers also weren't aware of the resources available to them at Georgia State."Many had no idea we were one ofthe largest business schools in the country," Bernhardt said. "We needed to get the word out."

Launched in March 1990, the Marketing RoundTable was an instant success with 15 organizations committing to annual membership. Within two months, the number had grown to 20. And the growth didn't stop there: In the last decade, this model has spawned similar forums at universities around the country, from Connecticut to Minneapolis to Miami. Within the Robinson College of Business, other departments have followed marketing's lead and established seven additional RounclTables over the course of a decade. Other RoundTables are coming soon.

Computer Information Systems (CIS) began an I/S Executive RoundTable in 1991 with the prodding of a partner in the consulting firm McKinsey and Company, Bruce Meyers. "Bruce was looking for a senior executive group to interact with, and executives at BellSouth, Coca Cola, and The Home Depot, kept telling him to call Georgia State," said McLean, director of the I/S RoundTable. McKinsey and the CIS Department teamed up to offer the first year's meetings, and the next year, Georgia State assumed permanent charge of the RoundTable.

A request from the business community also jump-started the Retailing RoundTable. When a senior retailing partner at Deloitte & Touche learned about the RCB's successful Marketing RoundTable and regular attendance by the city's top marketing executives, he became excited about the model. A series of breakfast meetings launched by his company had failed to attract senior-level executives, and he asked to borrow the concepts that were working for Georgia State. Bernhardt gave his blessing, but soon the executive was back with another request. Everyone he had contacted was interested in the idea, but they wanted to participate only if Georgia State ran it.