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1) What goods and services does your company sell?
IBEX Partners was born to help Hospital Systems with Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) Integration projects.
Since inception, we have diversified and now also have a niche in IT Process Improvement/IT Best Practices to assist organizations in delivering effective and meaningful Services to their clients.
We currently work with Corporations, Hospital Systems, Federal Government Agencies and Military Installations to provide IT Service and Support, IT HW/SW Solutions, Consulting and Training Services.
2) When did you attend Tuck?
Building a High-Performing Business Program (BHPB) held November 16 -21, 2014
3) What changes did you make in your business after attending Tuck?
We have transformed our Service Offerings by utilizing concepts from the Value Chain module. We have moved ourselves up on the chain as we leverage our Subject Matter Experts to create value right off the bat. We educate our client base and lead with our niche in IT Process Improvement/IT Service Management, which sets the stage for a meaningful discussion about our services.
4) What significant milestones, awards, contracts have you won since leaving Tuck?
Immediately after leaving Tuck, I found a new resolve to complete the 8(a) SBA [usually referred to as SBA 8(a) certification process. Before Christmas, I completed the application and before the end of March I received my acceptance into the program.
I was in the midst a response to the Novation - IT Consulting Contract RFP. I was able to speak with Mark Cartwright during our Health IT [Building program at] Tuck session and he provided guidance and encouragement on how I could get things moving. August 2015 we were notified we won the Novation Contract.
We have won multiple Federal Government Contracts. To date the largest being: GSA (General Services Administration) and the Department of Defense (DOD)– Transportation Safely Administration (TSA).
Awards:
- 2015 Small Business Person of Excellence from the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce
- Leadership North Fulton – Class of 2015
Nominations:
- Finalist for the 2015 Small Business Person of the Year – from the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce
- 2015 Eagle Award from the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC) for collaboration, time and effort in assisting other MBE’s in the success of their business. (TBD October 3, 2015)
5) What do you remember most about your experience at Tuck?
After flying into Logan Airport, I wasn’t so excited about the bus journey to Dartmouth, but, I am always up for an adventure! Very thirsty after the long plane ride, I took advantage of the complimentary water and snacks and even the classical music being piped into the arm rests. I slowly started to relax and sink into my comfy seat. I began to explore and appreciate the landscape – would I actually see a Moose? As the driver masterfully took turns on the freeway, I was drawn in with what’s next, what would I see, what would I experience. This reverent ride set the stage for an incredible Journey at Tuck.
I knew something magical was about to happen.
Tuck MBE bi-monthly newsletter, answer the five questions above and send me an email at Frederick.w.mckinney@tuck.dartmouth.edu. It’s free!
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Tuck Faculty Profile Joseph Hall, Visiting Associate Professor of Business Administration
Professor Hall teaches operations and pricing in the Tuck MBE programs. Joe earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University, his MBA at the University of Washington, and his undergraduate degree from Cal Tech. His current interest include the “tension between art and science of business process improvement, customer service, customer retention, pricing and the value of operational focus.”
If we have learned anything about business since the release of Good to Great by Jim Collins in 2001, it is that operational excellence is what distinguishes the ordinary from the extraordinary. Joe covers how companies have transformed themselves and become more profitable, gained more control over their prices and become bigger players in their industry by paying closer attention to operational strategy and details.
In a paper co-authored by Joe Hall, Praveen Kopalle and David Pike titled, “Static and Dynamic Pricing of Excess Capacity in a Make-to-Order Environment”, the authors discuss a common problem/question facing all manufacturers, large and small – should prices reflect supply chain and production capacity? I have known and consulted with several MBEs over the years that have this important pricing problem.
In a perfect world, where you have a major customer who buys a significant amount of your capacity, you would give them the best prices, and any additional customers would pay that price plus some additional amount. However, we do not live in a perfect world. This paper and Joe’s research inform owners what to consider and how to optimally price goods when there is excess capacity. (You can find the entire article here) |
Corporate Supporter Focus – Novant Health
Novant Health is one of the four signatories of an MOU that formalizes a relationship between Novant Health, Novation, the Healthcare Supplier Diversity Alliance and Tuck to provide the best executive training for MBEs seeking to become outstanding suppliers to the health care industry.
Novant Health is “an integrated system of physician practices, hospitals, outpatient centers, and more – each element committed to delivering a remarkable healthcare experience.” Novant Health is a not-for-profit integrated system of 15 medical centers and 1,123 doctors in 343 clinic locations, as well as numerous outpatient surgery centers, medical plazas, rehabilitation programs, diagnostic imaging centers and community health outreach programs.
Novant Health’s 24,400 employees and physician partners care for patients and communities in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia.”(Source: www.novanthealth.org)
We want to thank Novant Health for their commitment to developing diverse suppliers and their significant support of the Tuck MBE programs. Novant Health supplier diversity leader, Kevin Price will be attending and participating in the November Building a High-Performing Minority Business Program (November 15-20) at Tuck. Thank you Kevin and Novant Health.
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Building a High-Performing Minority Business – November 15-20
We are quickly approaching the registration deadline for the Building a High-Performing Minority Business program that takes place in beautiful Hanover, New Hampshire, November 15-20. The November program is open to all diverse businesses regardless of industry.
We need the Tuck MBE Alumni to help us get the word out on this valuable program. Please forward our email to members of your network. There is most likely a colleague, a partner, a supplier, a customer, an employee who could benefit from being here in November. And you know, it doesn’t hurt to come back to Tuck if you have been away for some time! Click here to Apply Now
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And Finally, “Development- The Next Generation of Supplier Diversity”
I am reading the surprisingly successful book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century by the French economist, Thomas Pikettey. The book is a massive undertaking that looks at how income and wealth distribution has changed over time and across countries. The success of the book is surprising because it reads more like a textbook on the normally dry economic topic of economic growth reserved for academic economists. Piketty brings a great deal of data to the effort and demonstrates that income and wealth have become more concentrated since the end of the World Wars, but that where we are now looks very similar to where we were before the World Wars in terms of income and wealth distribution. The book asks the question: Why is the distribution of wealth and income becoming more unequal in the United States and Western Europe? So before answering that question, you might wonder what does this have to do with MBE development and the next generation of supplier diversity. My answer is – everything.
We in minority business development understand that the world is changing. Supply chains have become not only more important to corporate success, but have also become more difficult to get into. Suppliers are being asked to be bigger, more efficient and more global. These are not just unrelated rules of the game, this is the reality of global markets today and the foreseeable future. We don’t need to read Piketty to understand that there will be winners and losers in this new global economy. The winners will be those that adapt and develop. (Biologists Darwin and Spencer come to mind, and it was Spencer, not Darwin, who came up with the phrase “survival of the fittest.”)
The fittest will be those business leaders who address their businesses as an Olympic sprinter addresses his or her event. If you are planning to compete against Usain Bolt, then you better have a plan and you better be prepared to train. Tuck provides that training for those diverse business leaders who want to compete and thrive.
The next generation of supplier diversity will ironically not focus on diversity. The irony is clear, we help and want to help diverse businesses, but we need diverse businesses to act as if diversity is irrelevant. The only solution to this conundrum is that MBEs and other diverse business must prepare to be great. This is obviously easier said than done. But it means that MBEs must prepare to plan to be the leaders in their industry, and not just the leading MBE. MBEs need to be at the table where the important decisions are being made not because they are an MBE, but because they can make or break that decision. This attitudinal adjustment is critical for the success of MBEs moving forward. It is better for MBEs to assume that nobody cares about their minority status. If you start from this, how would you change how you market your service, who you market your service to, where you locate, and who you hire? Diversity is important, but it cannot be the strategic focus of a diverse business.
People do care, but we often confuse people with the corporations they represent. It is good that many corporations have minority supplier diversity programs. It would be even better if all of those corporations had MBE development programs that focused on these realities. The good news is that many corporations are investing in MBE development and that great MBEs understand the new realities of the market. I am proud to be at Tuck where we offer the opportunity for corporations to spend their development dollars on MBEs who understand these new realities. Dr. Piketty (like Tom Friedman in "The World is Flat" 10 years ago) has provided another clarion call that corporate leaders and MBEs need to rethink their strategies. Success will go to those businesses, large and small, that adapt and exploit these changes.
In your service,
Dr. Fred
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Tuck MBE Program 2015-2016 Calendar
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| Building a High-Performing Minority Business | November 15-20, 2015 | Hanover, NH |
| Tuck/Google Digital Excellence | December 7-9, 2015 | Seattle, WA |
| Building a High-Performing Minority Business | April 24-29, 2016 | Hanover, NH |
| Supplier Diversity Professional Excellence | TBA 2016 | Hanover, NH |
| Tuck/ Google Digital Excellence | TBA 2016 | TBA |
| Growing the Minority Business to Scale | July 31-August 5, 2016 | Hanover, NH |
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For other Tuck Executive Education programs, please visit the website.
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