Wage Transparency, Rideshare Payouts, and More – New York News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York business schools this week.
Wage Transparency Works: Reduces Gender Pay Gap by 7 Percent – Columbia Business School
New joint-research from members of the Columbia Business School, INSEAD, the University of Copenhagen, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, and Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business finds that wage transparency can help close the gender pay gap
Columbia’s Daniel Wolfenzon and his co-authors examined the effect of a 2006 requirement for Danish companies to report on gender pay gaps.
“What surprised us the most was the way in which this wage gap closed. Women’s wages did not increase at a faster rate in treatment firms as we were expecting. Instead, we find that men’s wages in treatment firms grew slower relative to men’s wages in control firms. As a result, the total wage bill grew slower in firms that were required to report wage segregated statistics,” Wolfenzon says.
“What is interesting is that the law has unintended consequences on women’s ability to climb up the corporate ladder and their willingness to join the labor market. When firms adopt fairer wage practices towards women, this can have positive effects on women’s labor market outcomes that go well beyond pay gaps,” UNC Kenan-Flagler Assistant Professor of Finance Elena Simintzi says.
You can learn more about the wage transparency research here.
Market-Driven Drivers: Dynamic Payout Ratio Means More Money, Less Wait – Binghamton School of Management
With the rise of on-demand services from ridesharing, we have become accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it. Binghamton University School of Management Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management Jiaru Bai knows the secret to discovering how to handle impatient customers: data.
“Having a dynamic payout ratio almost always performs better than a fixed payout ratio, according to our model and data analysis,” says Binghamton Assistant Professor Jiaru Bai / Photo via Jonathan Cohen
Bai and her fellow researchers analyzed rides from Didi, China’s largest on-demand ride-hailing service platform. They found that the optimal solution is to flexibly determine the payout percentage, rather than adhere to a rigid, fixed rate.
“Basically, when demand is high, providers should get paid a higher percentage, and when demand is low, providers should get paid a lower percentage. Having a dynamic payout ratio almost always performs better than a fixed payout ratio, according to our model and data analysis, and it leads to benefits for all involved,” Bai says.
You can read more about the ridesharing research here.
New Research Shows U.S. Consumers Prefer Brands that Support Refugees – NYU Stern Experience News & Events
According to a new report titled “How Helping Refugees Helps Brands” from the NYU Stern School of Business and the Tent Partnership for Refugees, American consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that support refugees. This includes brands that hire refugees, deliver services to refugees, invest in refugee entrepreneurs, and source from refugee businesses.
“This report shows that consumers will reward brands that support refugees,” says Gideon Maltz, Executive Director of the Tent Partnership for Refugees.
“In a crowded marketplace, brands that integrate refugees into their business can distinguish themselves from their competitors, especially among millennials. This is a clear demonstration that brands can do well by doing good.”
The Tent Partnership for Refugees, founded by Chobani’s Hamdi Ulukaya, is mobilizing the private sector to improve the lives and livelihoods of more than 25 million refugees. Ulukaya launched Tent with the hope that the private sector is uniquely positioned to address the global refugee crisis, mobilizing networks, resources, innovation, and the entrepreneurial spirit of the business community. There are over 100 companies in the Tent Partnership supporting refugees across 34 countries, which can be found here.
Professor Tülin Erdem, co-author of the report and chair of NYU Stern’s Marketing Department adds, “It impacts brand image and consumer brand purchase behavior positively.’
“This is consistent with current consumer (especially the millennial consumer) preferences for brands that take a strong stance for social issues and consider the welfare on multiple stakeholders, including the society at large.”
The full report can be accessed online. For more, check out the recent NYU Stern article here.
Telecommuting and the Gig Economy, and More – New York City News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York business schools this week.
The Changing Workplace – Lehigh College of Business and Economics News
The Lehigh College of Business and Economics recently published an overview of the impact that telecommuting continues to have on the future of work—and the surging gig economy.
“With email, instant messaging, smartphones, Skype for Business, Webex, and other connecting technologies, more and more companies are allowing their employees to work from home—even if home is a thousand miles from the corporate headquarters.”
Case in point: Vermont Department of Economic Development’s recent announcement that it would give $10,000 cash to anyone who wanted to move to the Green Mountain State and work remotely.
Ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft, as well as platforms like Upwork, which connect organizations and freelancers, depend on the flexible schedules of side-hustlers and entrepreneurs alike.
Lehigh Associate Professor of Management Naomi Rothman writes, “Being able to work from home for periods of time to care for children could enable more women to stay in the workforce and advance. If we have these issues of women not being able to make it to the upper echelons of corporate America, part of that reason is they are having work/life-balance issues.”
She adds, “Flexibility is one of the most important and critical solutions in helping dual-career families. In families in which you have two professions with both parents working, issues of child care become a fundamental problem. Flexibility is one thing that parents say allows them to keep their careers on track.”
Lehigh Professor of Management Andrew Ward predicts that the larger economy will more closely resemble the structure of the motion picture industry.
“When a movie is [green lit] by a studio, they bring together hundreds, even thousands, of workers—from the director and stars to the gaffers and the gofers—to make the movie. Once the film is done, they all move on to other projects. Some continue to work together on various projects, sometimes at the same studio, but many do not.”
You can read the full Lehigh College of Business and Economics News article here.
Consulting Challenge Win Leads to Hubble Contacts Concept Trial – Gabelli Connect
The Fordham University Gabelli School of Business recently published an overview of a recent student collaboration with Hubble Contacts’ co-CEO and co-founder Jesse Horwitz and Director of Internal Operations Barbara Almeida, MBA ’17.
Hubble Contacts, a “direct-to-consumer online marketplace for contact lens subscriptions,” is interested in finding new ways to reach consumers and increase revenue.
Joanne Ball, MBA ’20, and her team of students (Andrew Clark, Oliver Flynn, Sandeep Jacob, and Jessica Nebbeling) devised a campus pop-up shop that “would offer free eye exams and a student discount … to allow them to create a physical presence for their online DTC brand and also engage their target at a younger age segment.”
You can read the full piece from Gabelli Connect here.
Binghamton University Unveils New Master of Science in Data Analytics Program – Binghamton SOM Blog
Binghamton SOM announced a new 1-year, 30-credit Master of Science in Data Analytics (MSDA), the result of a cross-disciplinary partnership with Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences.
The MSDA, which qualifies as a STEM degree, will give students a “comprehensive foundation in data analytics, while also giving them confidence in the analytical, quantitative, technical and leadership skills needed for successful careers in data analysis.”
MSDA Program Director and Binghamton SOM Professor of Marketing Manoj Agarwal writes, “With three schools behind the curriculum of the program, we believe a multidisciplinary approach will produce successful, multidisciplinary graduates who can face the unstructured data challenges of the future.”
The first MSDA cohort is due to kick off July 2019.
Click here to find out more about the Binghamton 30-credit Master of Science in Data Analytics program.
Finding The Best Affordable Full-Time MBA Programs
Earning an MBA is a great way to ensure some level of financial security in the future. However, if earning the degree leaves you with mountains of debt, that security can start to seem like a pipe dream. Fortunately, there are business schools that provide some of the best affordable full-time MBA programs in the country.
Analyzing the full-time MBA rankings from U.S. News & World Report, we outline ten of the best MBA programs throughout the country that don’t come with the hefty price tag. Check out the ten programs that cost less than $25,000 per semester below.
The Best Affordable Full-Time MBA Programs
The D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University charges $1,600 per credit for their 55-credit program. The cost comes to about $22,000 per semester, which is not bad considering the average starting salary for recent grads is $88,000. The Boston school also offers its students a corporate residency while pursuing their degree, which helps alleviate financial pressure. The average salary for the Corporate Residencies was a respectable $32.52 per hour in 2018. Moreover, 91 percent of MBAs receive job offers within three months of graduation. Students with an interest in international business can participate in the Global Consulting Project or International Field Study.
At $11,855 per semester, going to La Salle University allows students to earn their MBAs without breaking the bank. The length of the program varies depending on a student’s previous credits and scheduling choices. Students who majored or minored in business can complete their degree in 12 months, whereas students without a business major or minor may take up to 24 months. Options for specialization include: accounting, business systems and analytics, finance, general business administration, management, and marketing.
Despite the reasonable price tag, La Salle grads have gone on to work high-level positions at well-known companies like Deloitte LLP and Morgan Chase.
The University of Colorado, Boulder Leeds School of Business ranks 65th overall among the best full-time MBA programs on U.S. News, and has a welcoming price tag to back it up. For in-state residents, the program is only $900 per credit ($1,200 for out-of-state residents). Over the course of 55 credits, this comes to just $49,500 for in-state residents over the entire two years of the program: $24,750 per year.
Leeds emphasizes entrepreneurship and a global outlook. The degree electives encourage students to concentrate on finance, marketing, management, or systems-operations. Students can complement this “functional focus” with a more tailored specialization like entrepreneurship, real estate, or sustainability. MBAs are not limited to MBA courses, as the program allows them to take up to four electives in other schools at CU Boulder. Additionally, students earning their MBA in Sustainability have the opportunity to take courses in University of Colorado’s Environmental Studies, Engineering, and Law Schools.
Upstate New Yorkers will be pleased to learn that the Binghamton University School of Management costs about $17,205 (with fees) per year for in-state residents. Non-residents pay about $26,745 (with fees) per year. Binghamton also does not require that entering MBAs have a business background, though they recommend a rudimentary knowledge of calculus, as well as strong skills in English and IT. The standard four-semester MBA is open to students from all undergrad majors. The school is currently 76th on the U.S. News list. Binghamton, NY may also be a strategic career-launch location, as the city made the Forbes list of “The Best Small Places For Business And Careers.”
Internships and opportunities to hobnob abound in the U.S. capital, making DC an excellent place to earn an MBA. However, with the cost of living on the rise, finding a relatively affordable school is key to maximizing return on investment. The cost of pursuing an MBA at the Kogod School of Business at American University comes out to about $20,923 per semester, for a total cost of $83,692. And, with a mean graduate salary of $84,725, it should not take grads long to see a respectable ROI. Kogod offers features like weekly Business Leadership Luncheons, wherein local business pioneers share their experiences and insights with students. Speakers have included senior executives from PayPal, IBM, and Marriott International. Graduates of the program have gone on to work at companies like Amazon, Deloitte, and Ford Motor Company.
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MBAs at the Argryros School of Business—the 79th overall school on the U.S. News list—pay $1,655 per credit. Which, for the 50-credit program, averages to about $20,687 per semester. The Orange County, CA school offers tracks in accounting, business analytics, entertainment and media management, entrepreneurship, finance, global business, marketing, and strategic management. The school also offers a variety of dual degrees, including an MBA/MFA in Film & TV Producing.
The University of San Diego School of Business Administration MBA currently costs $1,420 per credit. With a 56-credit requirement for the two-year program, the cost without fees comes to around $19,880 per semester. It is tied with the aforementioned Argyros School of Business at 79th overall on the U.S. News list of the country’s best business schools.
USD’s curriculum is based on four pillars: Leadership development; business function core; corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and ethics; integrative problem solving. For students with a global mindset, the International MBA has the same cost per credit, but requires only 44 credits.
In addition to being affordable, the Lerner College of Business is located in Delaware, where tax-free shopping makes the cost of living far less daunting. The Lerner MBA costs just $825 per credit for Delaware residents, and $1,000 per credit for those from out of state. This puts total cost per semester in a range from $9,075-$11,000.
Lerner MBAs can choose from a variety of concentrations, including (but not limited to): business analytics, international business, and sport management. Students can pursue a full-time, part-time, online, or hybrid MBA. Pursuing a hybrid of online and on-campus courses may also be fiscally helpful, since online credits tend to be more cost-effective.
The CSU College of Business offers several options for students pursuing an MBA. The school has a nationally renowned online MBA program, and also offers a Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA, an Executive MBA, and an Evening MBA.
According to U.S. News, tuition for the full-time program is $757 per credit for in-state students and $1,557 per credit for out-of-state students. Given the huge cost cut for Colorado natives, CSU may be a prudent choice for residents of the state.
Students who are NYC-bound might consider applying to the Pace University Lubin School of Business. The total cost of an MBA education at Lubin education can vary, as different tracks require a different number of credits. However, at $1,267 per credit, the cost can be very manageable, particularly considering its prime spot in downtown Manhattan and all of the internship and job opportunities this location presents. Particularly for those with a bent toward accounting or finance, Lubin may be the perfect launching pad for a career in the big city. A substantial 92 percent of recent grads found jobs upon graduating.
Columbia Revisits The Great Recession, and More – New York News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York business schools this week.
Showing Discipline with Kindness, Compassion to Employees Results in Better Job Performance, Research Shows – Binghamton University School of Management
New Binghamton SOM research reveals that leaders who show “no compassion to employees doesn’t bode well for their job performance, while showing compassion motivated them to be better workers.”
Binghamton Assistant Professor of Management Chou-Yu Tsai and his coauthors “surveyed nearly 1,000 members of the Taiwanese military and almost 200 adults working full-time in the United States” to review the subordinate performance that sprang from Authoritarianism-dominant, Benevolence-dominant, and Classical paternalistic leadership styles.
Tsai explains, “Being benevolent is important because it can change the perception your followers have of you. If you feel that your leader or boss actually cares about you, you may feel more serious about the work you do for them.”
“Subordinates and employees are not tools or machines that you can just use. They are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect. Make sure you are focusing on their well-being and helping them find the support they need, while also being clear about what your expectations and priorities are. This is a work-based version of ‘tough love’ often seen in parent-child relationships.”
You can watch a video on the research below.
A Food Scientist Pursuing a Rutgers MBA Creates Perfect Life Nutrition – Rutgers Business School News
Perfect Life Nutrition founder and current Rutgers Business School MBA Juan Salinas talks about how his path to food science led him to take home the $20,000 top prize at this year’s Rutgers Business Plan Competition.
A native of Honduras, Salinas worked at Nabisco, Cadbury, and Power Bar, where he “combined his expertise in food science with knowledge he gained in sports nutrition working on a master’s offered by the International Olympic Committee.”
He left the corporate ringer in 2015 to start Perfect Life Nutrition and its flagship P-nuff Crunch Baked Peanut Puff, a plant-based protein snack that satisfied Salinas’ desire to make something “tasty and nutritious.”
According to the Rutgers Business School News, Perfect Life Nutrition has since “pushed out two new versions of P-nuff Crunch, both are peanut-based but one is cinnamon-dusted and the other is flavored with cocoa.”
You can read the rest of Salinas’ article with Rutgers Business School here.
Dodd-Frank a Flop: Columbia Business School Study Recommends Fundamental Reforms for Landmark Financial Regulation – Columbia Business School
A decade after the Great Recession hit, new Journal of Applied Corporate Finance research from CBS Professor Charles Calomiris unpacks “numerous flaws in post-crisis financial regulations and proposes modifying or eliminating a number of recently approved financial reforms, including pieces of Dodd-Frank and the Volcker Rule.”
Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008 was among the first major signs of massive economic distress – Photo via Oli Scarff/Getty Images
In a recent interview with the school, Calomiris explains, “The Great Recession created a rush in Washington to establish guardrails for the financial industry. But good intentions, expanded powers, and new mandates do not necessarily lead to smart policy decisions.”
“Ten years later, it’s clear that the Dodd-Frank Act and further regulations are failing to curb risky behavior while obstructing economic growth. We can do much better than these costly, unsustainable regulations that will do little to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis.”
Calomiris proposes nearly two-dozen reforms to current regulations, including:
- “Linking financial regulation directly to the performance of the financial sector and demonstrate that regulatory costs are justified by measurable benefits.
- “Restoring the role of laws and formal rule-making in financial regulation and end the discretionary authority of politicized actors like the FSOC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
- “Holding regulators accountable to the public by requiring transparent regulatory standards.”
Has Financial Regulations Been a Flop? (or How to Reform Dodd-Frank) can be found here.
Layoffs, Feeling Connected, and a New Lehigh Grant – New York News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York business schools this week.
CEOs Paid Less Than Peers More Likely to Engage in Layoffs, Research Finds – Binghamton SOM Blog
According to new Personnel Psychology research coauthored by Binghamton Assistant Professor of Strategy Scott Bentley, “CEOs who are paid less than their peers are four times more likely to engage in layoffs.”
In a recent Binghamton SOM Blog entry, Bentley writes, “In terms of strategic decisions that a CEO can make that could lead to higher pay, layoffs are one of the easiest to do. In a way, CEOs are just like any other type of employee. They are going to compare their pay to those around them. The difference is that the average employee can’t make strategic decisions for the company that influences their own pay. Executives can.”
Bentley adds, “Right around the point where CEOs are paid equal to their peers, the effect kind of goes away. We found that there’s this huge drop off in the likelihood of announcing layoffs once your pay is relatively the same as, or more than, your peers.”
“Payoffs for layoffs? An examination of CEO relative pay and firm performance surrounding layoff announcements” is available here. You can read Bentley’s full article here.
New Research Finds the More Connected You Feel to Your Future Self the Healthier Choices You Make – Columbia Business School
New Columbia Business School research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology finds that “the more connected you feel to your future self, the more likely you are to adopt healthier habits today, tomorrow and thereafter.”
CBS Assistant Professor of Business Michael Slepian, on the school’s official website, says, “Our findings can help people circumvent the pitfalls of behavioral health changes. What the research shows is, if you can get people to think about their connection to their future selves, you can also get them to visualize the repeated health decisions they will need to make to improve their long-term health.”
According to the article, “it is possible that increasing future self-continuity would not only promote positive healthy behavior like exercising, but also prevent negative behaviors like overeating. The findings of this study could be applied to other behavioral health domains including skincare, such as sunscreen use and tanning salon use, dental care, such as regular flossing and routine dental visits, and road safety, such as texting while driving.”
The paper, “Future Self-Continuity Is Associated With Improved Health and Increases Exercise Behavior,” can be found here.
Philip Rauch’s Legacy Expands Through Family Foundation – Lehigh College of Business and Economics Blog
The Lehigh College of Business and Economics profiled Philip Rauch Jr. ’33, whose Rauch Foundation will “provide a generous grant to establish the Rauch Media and Communications Lab.”
Photo from the original Rauch Business Center groundbreaking on April 7, 1989 / Photo via lehigh.edu
Rauch Foundation President Nancy Rauch Douzinas writes of her uncle Philip’s commitment to Lehigh. “He was especially passionate about the power of clear communications as a means of working together effectively.”
“We know that he would be pleased that the Rauch Foundation will continue to support communications technology at Lehigh and ensure that the school keeps pace with the transformations driving business today.”
Dean Georgette C. Phillips explains it’s Lehigh’s responsibility to ensure that “today’s business professionals become more adept with multimedia and communication tools to communicate or introduce the next best idea.”
According to the school’s blog, “Students and faculty will use state-of-the-art technologies to develop presentations, videos, podcasts and other technologically based communications. Students will benefit from coaching and feedback in real-time with the learning laboratory.”
You can read the full article here.
Binghamton Expands Faculty Engagement
Binghamton University is launching a new Faculty-in-Residence program. The program was created to expand faculty engagement with students outside of the classroom. The program will begin in spring 2015.
The program will give full-time faculty members the opportunity to take part in the academic and intellectual life of one of the University’s residential colleges.
