The MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. satellite broadcast on May 20 will feature a keynote speech by Ray Stata, chairman of the board of Analog Devices, on "The Soft Side of New Enterprise."
The broadcast from Kresge Auditorium beginning at 7pm will also include an introduction by moderator Paul P. Brountas, senior partner at Hale and Dorr LLP, and an interactive session involving downlinked sites across the country.
Mr. Stata said his presentation will explore "the assertion that your purpose in forming a new enterprise should not focus primarily on creating new products and technologies... but rather on new and better ways to satisfy the needs of people -- employees, customers, stockholders and suppliers. From the beginning, you should consciously create an environment and culture in which trustful, high-quality relationships are encouraged and in which mutual respect and understanding of differences in background, beliefs and points of view are valued."
Mr. Stata (SB 1957, SM) was a founder and first president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and is currently on its board of directors. He is also a founder and current chair of the Center for Quality of Management, a member of the Executive Committee of the Council on Competitiveness and a past member of the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education.
At MIT, Mr. Stata chairs the Visiting Committee of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and serves on the advisory board of the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development as well as the Organization Learning Center. In 1984 he was elected a member of the MIT Corporation and was president of the Alumni/ae Association in 1987-88. He is also a member of MIT's Executive Committee.
This is the seventh presentation in the MIT Enterprise Forum Satellite Broadcast Series, which reaches forum chapters, MIT alumni/ae clubs and Sloan School clubs across North America.
Founded in 1978, the MIT Enterprise Forum promotes the formation and growth of innovative and technologically-oriented companies through a series of specialized executive education programs.
A version of this article appeared in the April 28, 1999 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 43, Number 28).
