Dell University Day

March 30, 2006 Issue

In 1984, 19-year-old Michael Dell founded a computer manufacturing company with only a $1,000 investment and an innovative direct-to-customer business plan. Today, Dell chairs Dell Inc., the world’s largest personal computer manufacturer. He spoke with MBA students here and at 16 other leading business schools around the country April 12 via a real-time videoconference organized by the International Business Center (IBC) in Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.

Speaking from Round Rock, Tex., Dell fielded students’ questions and defended his company’s refusal to go into retail sales or enter traditional distribution channels. Even though Dell had been told that his company’s business model wouldn’t work in China, for example, that country now is Dell Inc.’s third-largest market in terms of unit sales, he said.

Dell’s discussion with students wasn’t all about business. The key to achieving balance between managing a global company and a major philanthropic foundation (the $1 billion-plus Michael and Susan Dell Foundation) and spending quality time with one’s family lies in the ability to “just say no,” according to Dell, who has four children. “After putting in a certain number of hours per week, you realize you’re no longer able to be effective,” he said.

The first-ever Dell University Day was the brainchild of IBC Associate Director Lori Molinaro (who can be seen next to the blue-shirted Dell on the video screen in the photo at right). “I first contacted Dell in December 2004 after reading an interview he and Dell Inc. President and CEO Kevin Rollins did with Fortune magazine,” Molinaro said. “With Dell Inc. operating in 150 countries, Michael Dell is an ideal speaker for the IBC to bring to MBA students. Because of his busy schedule, it was a long process and an uphill battle to get this event on the books. But our persistence paid off, and the wait proved to be well worth it.”

—Leigh Ann Wojciechowski