News Roundup – Pepperdine Professor Talks Nostalgia TV Trends on NPR, and More
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this week, including a Pepperdine professor discussing the allure of nostalgia TV, and more.
NPR Podcast Invites Cristel Antonia Russell to Discuss Nostalgia TV – Pepperdine Graziadio Newsroom
Dr. Cristel Antonia Russell, Professor of Marketing at Pepperdine Graziadio School of Management recently spoke on the power of nostalgia TV on the NPR podcast On Point.
Along with Eric Deggans, NPR’s television critic, Dr. Russell discussed the phenomenon of the wide popularity of all things 1990s in current culture. A major topic of Russell’s research is the reasons behind why people tend to consume and re-consume certain pieces of pop culture. Take Friends, for instance, the rights of which was recently purchased by TimeWarner Media for $125 million. There has been a massive resurgence in the last five years or so of Ross, Rachel and the gang’s popularity.
Russell says, “Twenty-five years is a huge chunk of time to anyone. Nostalgia is a double-edged sword where a part of you wants to go back to these earlier times but a part of you is glad you are no longer an 18-year-old watching Friends. It allows people to reflect and realize how they have grown.”
For more on Dr. Russell, read here, and to download the On Point podcast about the nostalgia TV revival, visit NPR or listen below.
Dean Amy Hillman Drives an Unprecedented Year of Giving – ASU Carey News
Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business, led by Dean Amy Hillman, reached an unprecedented fundraising goal this year.
A $25 million donation from the W. P. Carey Foundation kicked off the $50 million campaign, and overall the school raised $43.7 million in fiscal year 2018-19. Alumni and current students helped to round out the gifts, with 615 individual donations from them and other private supporters. In all, alumni gave an impressive $11.7 million.
Hillman says of the campaign, “Of course what we do at W. P. Carey is business, but I always practice that ‘business is personal … What donors share with us, no matter the gift is about the people who are impacted through a scholarship, research, or career opportunity.”
The gifts came at a welcome time, as the state of Arizona has reduced funding for higher education in recent years. The money from the campaign will help to improve student resources, enhance research, and fund scholarships. For more on Dean Hillman and the fundraising campaign, read here.
‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Writer’s Dilemma Illustrates How Hollywood Pay Gap is Alive and Well – Kellogg in the News
Nancy Qian, Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management recently weighed in for an article in the Chicago Tribune on the massive pay gap in Hollywood for non-white writers and actors.
The most recent event that prompted this discussion was the departure of Adele Lim, one of the screenwriters for ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ from the film’s sequel. Her white male counterpart was offered considerably more for his contribution to the sequel’s script—nearly a million dollars, compared to Lim’s offer of $110,000.
While a comment in The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Lim’s offer was based solely upon her experience and past accomplishments, her supporters believe otherwise. Professor Qian says:
“The Warner Bros. response that they have a formula for determining pay seems like an excuse, since they can always build in more components to the formula to give it more flexibility, such as take into account expertise on the subject, the number of other people with similar expertise, the success of the last project, and the evaluation from co-workers.”
“Every situation is different,” she adds. “But it wouldn’t be crazy to see this as Lim getting hit by two forces—on average, for the same level education and work experience, 1) women get paid less than men and 2) Asians in the U.S. get paid less than Caucasians. The question of why is subject to debate.”
Read here for the full Chicago Tribune article.
NYU Stern Receives $5 Million Gift from Alumna Entrepreneur Elizabeth Elting (MBA ’92) to Support the Advancement of Women in Business – NYU Stern News & Events
NYU Stern alum Elizabeth Elting, founder of translation firm Transperfect, recently donated $5 million to the school with the goal of nurturing Stern’s female entrepreneurs.
The gift, which is the largest ever from a woman entrepreneur in the school’s history, will fund Elizabeth Elting Women’s Leadership Fellowships for a total of forty female MBA students. Students who demonstrate both academic merit and the desire to build their own businesses will benefit from the fellowship.
“Starting my own business is the best and most rewarding decision I ever made for my life,” Elting says. “It gave me the resources I needed to provide for my family and influence the world for the better. That’s why I’m so excited to provide this gift to NYU Stern. This money will not only make Stern accessible to a greater number of ambitious young women eager to create their own futures, but will also help the best and brightest launch new enterprises and carry out visions that could transform the world.”
You can read more on Elting and the fellowship here.
Avolio Ranked #2 Most Influential Researcher in Leadership, #3 in Organizational Behavior – Foster School of Business News & Events
Bruce Avolio, Professor of Management at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, was recently named one of the globe’s foremost thinkers on leadership and organizational development by The Leadership Quarterly.
The publication named Avolio the number one scholar in the world at forming networks in the field of leadership research, and second best in productivity and influence of his leadership studies.
Another industry publication, the Academy of Management Learning and Education, lists Avolio the third most influential author since its inception. Avolio’s wide list of accomplishments include the 2013 Eminent Leadership Scholar Award from the Network of Leadership Scholars in the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association, and fellowships in the Academy of Management, and the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology.
Read more on Avolio and his research here.
News Roundup – Vanderbilt Investment Advice, and More
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this week, including Vanderbilt investment advice, plus more.
When It Comes to Investing, Love at First Sight Doesn’t Always Pay Off – Vanderbilt University Owen School of Management News
Steven Posavac, E. Bronson Ingram Professor in Marketing, and Nicolas Bollen, Frank K. Houston Professor in Finance at Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Business recently wrote an article on a common investment mistake—falling in love at first sight.
“Premature Infatuation and Commitment in Individual Investing Decisions” has been published in a recent issue of the Journal of Economic Psychology. Posavac remarked of the article, “We wanted to understand how internal factors such as top-of-mind awareness or external cues such as media attention can cause investors to become prematurely infatuated with a particular investment.”
The authors performed a series of studies which ultimately proved that individual bias is often a factor in decision making—not the overall soundness and profitability of the investment.
“We found that the infatuation effect persisted clearly across all three experiments, even when the salient option was worse than the others,” says Nick Bollen. “Surprisingly, the effect was even a little bit stronger for those who indicated that they understood how investments worked.”
For more on the authors and their research, read here.
Masters in Supply Chain Management Strengthens Navy Officer’s Expertise – Rutgers School of Business News
Elizabeth Boutin, a student in Rutgers Business School’s Master in Supply Chain Management, has taken her skills to new heights in the U.S. Navy.
Boutin has put her expertise to work at the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in Washington DC, where she budgets for the design, construction, and maintenance of nuclear reactors.
“It involves a lot of cost-estimating. You’re planning 50 years in advance, so you have to work backward … I’ve learned about ordering efficiently, reducing costs and shipping times, interacting with buyers, and tracking results,” Boutin explains in a recent interview, all of which are skills for which her RBS program has laid the groundwork.
The online version of the program has allowed Boutin to continue work with the Navy while completing her studies on time.
Read here for more on Boutin and the online Masters in Supply Chain Management at Rutgers.
Professor David Yermack’s Joint Research on Cryptocurrency’s Impact on Monetary Policy is Featured – NYU Stern News
Along with colleagues from NYU Law and McGill University, Professor of Finance and Business Transformation David Yermack of NYU Stern recently published a paper entitled “How Do Private Digital Currencies Affect Government Policy?”
Yermack and his coauthors argue that the mere existence of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have a positive effect on government policy, despite the fact that their use is not yest widespread. Diversification, local investment, and tax revenue generation are three of the main benefits of employing crypto, the authors argue.
By providing an alternative to centralized banking, citizens are given more options for growing wealth, which is especially important in recovering economies like those of Argentina and Turkey.
Read here for more on Yermack and his research.
Guest Lecturer and Business Leader Dispels Culture Myths – London Business School News
London Business School visiting lecturer Kirsty Bashforth, author of Culture Shift: A Practical Guide to Managing Organizational Culture, has spoken extensively on creating and maintaining positive business culture.
She recently shared some wisdom on her experience in how the vague notion of ‘culture’ can actually make or break a business.
“I had a growing awareness of the importance of culture [early in my career] … I became increasingly aware that an intentional focus on culture as part of that is business critical,” she says.
Bashforth is founder of culture advisory agency Quay Five, but she began her career in a vastly different role—as a trader on the floor of global oil company BP. After BP’s tragic Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, the company tasked her with rebuilding the company from the inside out.
For more on Bashforth, Quay Five, and her upcoming book, read here.
Gain Insights From Top Leaders Into Their Successful Business Strategies – W.P. Carey News and Events
The W. P. Carey School of Business will host the 35th Annual Economic Club of Phoenix speaker series, beginning September 27, 2019.
It will feature senior executives from such companies as Petsmart, Adidas, and the Carlisle Company, along with leading academics from Harvard and Carey.
The lunch sessions will run 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with the exception of December’s session, which is scheduled to run from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Tickets for nonmembers are $85, and funds in excess will support scholarships and research at Carey.
Read here for more on the event, and also for registration information.
The Top Supply Chain Management Careers for MBA Grads
If you’ve got your MBA in hand or if you soon will, a supply chain career is worth exploration. This article will look at how you can launch a supply chain career, the typical salary ranges for supply chain management (SCM) and supply chain design roles, and some of the top MBA programs if you seek to develop or begin a career in the field.
