Taking Action on Climate Change, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
This Tool is Pushing People to Take Action on Climate Change – MIT Sloan Newsroom
New research from MIT Sloan Professor and Sustainability Initiative Director John Sterman finds that the role-play simulation World Climate, in which “participants take on the role of delegates to the UN climate change summits, and negotiate face-to-face with other participants to reach a climate change agreement,” might assist the powers that be understand and inspire environmental change.
Sterman and his co-authors write, “The results indicate that World Climate offers a climate change communication tool that enables people to learn and feel for themselves, which together have the potential to motivate action informed by science.”
“Research shows that showing people research doesn’t work. World Climate not only boosts people’s knowledge of climate change and increases the urgency they feel, but also generates gains in hope.”
You can read the full article here.
The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote – HBS Working Knowledge
Harvard Business School Professors Michael Norton and Leslie John recently co-authored a new working paper about the pitfalls of crowdsourced naming competitions. Case in point: Boaty McBoatface, the winning entry for the National Environmental Research Council’s online voting poll to name the agency’s new research vessel.
When NERC overruled ‘Boaty McBoatface,’ there was massive public backlash. Professor Norton explains, “When firms conduct online polls, people frequently submit ridiculous entries; and with social media, those entries will go viral. But even when firms never guarantee that consumers will choose the winner, consumers infer an implicit contract and are upset when that contract is violated.”
The researchers incorporated the NERC case study into its research as a compelling example of how companies can potentially violate consumer trust in crowdsourced polls, according to John. “It’s offensive because consumers feel as though the firm broke the contract.”
In 2016, the National Environmental Research Council conducted a public poll to name its vessel. The winner, infamously, was Boaty McBoatface, but the council renamed it to the RRS Sir David Attenborough.
Norton and John offer a number of options that allow companies to safeguard against potential fallout from “off-the-wall choices” by being “very explicit about how they will consider the voice of consumers before the vote begins.”
The researchers also advise “pre-selecting acceptable outcomes on which consumers can vote, culling options from consumer suggestions without publicizing the actual number of votes for each, [or] setting up some kind of screening process, by which only actual customers can vote, but giving out a voting code attached to products.”
You can read more from Norton and John here.
From Building on Bones to Building on Blockchains: D’Amore-McKim Students Experience Russia – DMSB Blog
Marina Hess DMSB21 and Anya Losik COS21 pose at the border between Europe and Asia
The D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University recently profiled 16 students who took part in a month-long Russian study abroad trip entitled “Driving Growth in Russia: From Building on Bones to Building on Blockchains.”
Yuan Vu Dinh Van (DMSB ’21) broke down the major takeaways from the cross-country excursion.
“By visiting Russia, I was able to see a different way of doing business compared to the model used in the U.S. Business in Russia seems to be conducted similarly to that of Ecuador, as only the people with the contacts and the money succeed in business, while in the U.S. it is easier for anyone to do that.”
Van adds, “I also learned about different ways to manage people, as Russian employees often prefer to be given orders and don’t have as much freedom as U.S. employees typically have in regards to the decision making. It really opened my mind to how important the role culture plays in doing business in different countries.”
You can read more from the interview here.
The International Blockchain, Financial Planning, and More – Los Angeles News
We’ve rounded up the biggest stories coming out of the Los Angeles metro this week.
The NBMBAA Scale-Up Pitch Challenge – National Black MBA Association, Inc.
The National Black MBA Association is inviting students to participate in the 2nd annual Scale-Up Pitch Challenge this summer as part of the organization’s broader goal of awarding $2 million in business grants to its membership. The competition gives members a chance to “Make Big Ideas Bigger,” pitching concepts for scaleable startups and connecting them with early stage investors. The winning team will be awarded a $50,000 grand prize at the 40th Annual NBMBAA Conference & Exposition in September
Starting with online submissions, top contestants will be chosen to compete in live pitch events taking place in Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles, CA. The Los Angeles Live Pitch event will take place on August 17, where five finalists will be awarded with complimentary conference registration, hotel and airfare for the finals in Detroit.
Read more about the NBMBAA and the Scale-Up Pitch Challenge here.
$25,000 Grant Funds Student Travel to Personal Financial Planning Conference – Mihaylo Newsroom
Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the McBeth Foundation, students in the Personal Financial Planning program at California State University, Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business had the opportunity to visit the Financial Planning Association Annual Conference. The McBeth Foundation supports individuals and groups that are leaving a mark on Southern California communities.
More than 2,000 certified financial planners gathered in Nashville this past October, making the conference the largest gathering of Certified Financial Planners in the world.
David Nanigian, Director of the Mihaylo Personal Financial Planning Program (center) along with students at last year’s event / Photo via business.fullerton.edu
Both student and faculty at the conference commented on the workshops and networking opportunities that have influenced the way they think about financial planning. “I became more aware of the impact young prospective financial advisers, such as myself, will have in educating and planning for various clients,” said Mihaylo finance student Victoria Martinez (’18). “It was useful to have the opportunity to ask professionals what their day-to-day looks like and what to expect out of a financial planning career.”
You can learn more about Mihaylo’s financial planning program and the event here.
Field Study Team Assessing Feasibility of Blockchain Technology as Key to Sustaining Guyana’s Indigenous Communities Earns Inaugural Impact Award – UCLA Anderson Blog
The Impact Alumni AMR Award, established earlier this year, was recently awarded to a team of UCLA Anderson MBAs for the impact made during their Applied Management Research Project, a field study assignment, and capstone of the Anderson full-time MBA.
The team of MBAs, made up of Anderson students’ Miriam Leah Feygenson, Vasiya Krishnan, Anubhav Mishra, Harshita Mishra, and Yuhei Iwasaki, were awarded for their work assessing the feasibility of blockchain technology to solve challenges of the Community Development Plan in Guyana. To celebrate their work, the Impact Alumni AMR Award included a $5,000 prize.
“An important objective for Impact@Anderson is to integrate impact into the core competency of the MBA program, so that all MBA graduates seek out opportunities such as social impact AMRs to be able to positively contribute to society during their time here and beyond” saidd Impact@Anderson executive director Bhavna Sivanand (’14). ”
Learn more about the Impact AMR Award here.
Temple Winners, Wharton Blockchain, and More – Philly News
Summer may be just beginning, but that doesn’t mean class is out for Philadelphia business school news. Here’s this week’s Philly news brief.
Fox School Announces Second Annual IMPACT Award Winners — Fox Newsroom
The Temple University Fox School of Business recognized outstanding staff members at the second-annual IMPACT Awards ceremony late last month, honoring staff who demonstrated the ability to collaborate effectively as groups to deliver impactful service, teaching, and research contributions. The awards are also held with Temple’s School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management.
This year, 16 groups representing the accomplishments of 70 faculty and 86 staff members earned nominations. The three winners were:
- The Fox Global Immersion program
- The Temple University Entrepreneurship Academy (TUEA)
- The Fox Center for Undergraduate Advising.
Winning groups took home glass trophies, customized merchandise to commemorate the achievement, a special group experience, and financial rewards.
To read more about the winners, click here.
Penn Launches Strategic Collaboration with Ripple — Wharton News
The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science recently announced the launch of The Ripple Project: a collaboration with blockchain-based global payments leader Ripple that aims to support academic research, technical development, and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and distributed ledger technology.
Geoffrey Garrett, Dean of the Wharton School, proclaimed during the announcement that:
“Blockchain represents the fusion of technology and finance spanning schools and disciplines well beyond Wharton. The Ripple Project will transform the way our students and faculty look at blockchain and its potential to change the world. We are thrilled to welcome Ripple’s collaboration as we prepare future leaders who will shape the future of how this dynamic technology is developed to transform fields as diverse as finance, logistics, and healthcare.”
Penn is one of only 17 universities around the world partnering with Ripple and its University Blockchain Research Initiative. Each university has the autonomy to determine its own research topics and areas of focus.
You can read more about this exciting news here.
EMBA vs MBA: Which Is Right for Me? — LeBow News
The LeBow College of Business recently published an article to help prospective MBAs choose between their EMBA and MBA programs. The piece compares and contrasts the Experience Level, Class Style, and Curriculum of both programs.
MetroMBA has ranked LeBow’s EMBA as one of the best in the Philadelphia metro area. Check out how the two degree programs match up here.
NYU Stern Receives $8 Million Alumni Gift to Promote Technology, Business, and Innovation
This week, NYU Stern School of Business announced the development of a new center to serve as a hub for cross-disciplinary collaboration and technology innovation. The new Fubon Center for Technology, Business, and Innovation was made possible thanks to an $8 million donation from alumnus Richard Ming-Hsing Tsai (MBA ’81). Tsai is chairman and CEO of Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd. and Fubon Life Insurance Co., Ltd. He is also vice chairman of Taiwan Mobile Co., Ltd.
The Fubon Center will support and facilitate collaboration in areas such as fintech, business analytics, technology, and entrepreneurship. It will also serve as a new nexus for continuous innovation at NYU Stern by strengthening industry ties and promoting cutting-edge research. Additionally, the Fubon Center will help to shape future coursework and encourage academic collaboration between NYU Stern and National Taiwan University, Tsai’s undergraduate alma mater.
“Technology demands that companies, regardless of industry, be nimble, adapt, and innovate at an unprecedented rate,” Stern Dean Peter Henry said in a press release.”Thanks to the generosity and inspiration of our alumnus Richard Tsai, we can help transform these challenges into exciting opportunities, staying as relevant to the new economy as we are to Wall Street.”
The new Fubon Center isn’t the only initiative that has been established over the last 18 months at Stern. In 2014, the school delivered one of the first courses on blockchain, which eventually led to the creation of the MBA FinTech specialization in 2016. Then, this past May, Stern launched a new Tech MBA, a one-year specialized MBA program focused on business and technology. It offers experiential learning projects with companies through Stern Solutions Programming. These initiatives and others are all part of Stern’s latest mission to expand its offerings at the intersection of business and technology.
To learn more about what NYU Stern is doing in the technology and business space, visit the school website.
ICYMI–Stern’s advances in technology education and career placement were also featured in this recent Clear Admit story: “More Top Business Schools Training MBA Students for Careers in Tech.”
This article has been edited, updated, and republished on our sister site, Clear Admit.
Robinson Opens Georgia’s First Business School-Based Fintech Lab
A new fintech lab has opened at the Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, covering topics of finance, real estate, data analytics, risk management, insurance, and more.
Business And The Blockchain Event To Explore New Business Technology At Rice
“Business And The Blockchain,” a weekend long event at the Rice University – Jones Graduate School of Business, will explore a revolutionary technology that is changing the business world.
