MBA

Profiles

Fred Smith, MBA 2009

Fred Smith comes from an impressive of line of entrepreneurs. His grandfather founded what would become the largest tour company in Jamaica. Fred's father created his own tour company, then extended the family's interests into real estate, rental cars, and service stations. "Even as a college freshman," Fred says, "I aspired to business school. I wanted to blend technology and business roles together and explore different industries. In sum, I wanted something in general management – and HBS is the best school for general management."

Becoming comfortable with complexity

At HBS, classes do not lead to definitive answers, but to a greater comfort with – and competence within – ambiguous situations. "Any business decision we have to make," says Fred, "is more than just about profitability. There are so many stakeholders to consider in any decision. Where do we draw the line between our personal ethics and our business interests? Our cases force us to examine the trade-offs. There are no easy answers, but HBS exposes us to the rules of the game."

Fred is applying classroom lessons to extracurricular leadership. "I came to HBS knowing I wanted to contribute to HBS in some way," he says. In his first year, he became his section's senator in the HBS Student Association. "The senate is a very intelligent body of high-achieving people," says Fred. "It's an honor to facilitate discussion among them, to learn from them. When we make decisions, we have to consider a diverse student body and confront a wide variety of issues. It's a great laboratory for me to test my decision-making skills."

During January break, Fred joined the China/Vietnam immersion where he witnessed the achievements and compromises of one of the world's fastest growing economies. "On the one hand, China is really booming," Fred says. "But at the same time, you see the consequences of hypergrowth. The infrastructure hasn't caught up; it's highly polluted and congested." And there are important considerations for outside business interests as well. "We get excited by the potential purchasing power of China's 1.3 billion people. But 800 million are still farmers in rural areas. It's just not realistic to think it will be easy to sell products in China."

Continued leadership

Fred's value as a Student Association senator was confirmed when his fellow classmates elected him to be one of the '08-'09 co-presidents. As he prepares for his new role this summer, he will be actively engaged in the Financial Leadership Development program at Target headquarters in Minneapolis. After getting his MBA, Fred says, "Like my father and grandfather, I want to start my own business."