Columbia Finds Surprises That Hurt Advertisers, and More – New York City News
What’s going on in New York business schools this week?
Study by Columbia Business School Finds Search Tools Like Broad Match Can Hurt Advertisers More Than It Helps – Columbia Business School Blog
New research co-authored by Columbia Business School associate professor of business Kinshuk Jerath calls into question the efficacy of search tools like broad match, which automate the process of “figuring out all the possible keywords that consumers might search for.”
According to the article, paid search ad spending will reach nearly $40 billion in the U.S. alone by 2019. Jerath writes, “Tools like broad match have led to too many advertisers competing over the same keywords, because now bidding on keywords is so easy. The result is that the search engines are actually the only real winners.”
In a paper entitled Keyword Management Costs and “Broad Match” in Sponsored Search Advertising, Jerath and co-authors Wilfred Amaldoss from Duke Fuqua and Amin Sayedi of UW Foster found that “broad match is only effective to a point, a threshold driven largely by the accuracy of broad match that is controlled by the search engine, not the advertiser.”
“Anything that makes advertising cheaper creates more competition—and can ultimately hurt your return on investment. “
You can read more of the research here.
Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert to Lehigh Graduates: ‘Do What Hasn’t Been Done’ – Lehigh College Business and Economics Blog
Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert, Lehigh College Business and Economics ’86 graduate, used her recent commencement address to share three life lessons that stressed to graduates of Lehigh’s 150th Class the importance of “always remembering what matters to them most.”
Engelbert advised students to “do what hasn’t been done” and “find creative, impactful ways of using new technologies for good.” She said, “I encourage you to stay optimistic and play an active, key role in carving the path leveraging your uniquely human skills—like creativity, empathy, communication, and complex problem-solving.”
Her second piece of advice was to “schedule your personal updates,” just as one might update “various devices to ensure they are operating at peak performance.”
Engelbert’s third and “most important” lesson was to “stay anchored on what matters to you most.”
“I’m sure many of you have a purpose you’re passionate about. That doesn’t end today with graduation. You can carry that through whatever you’re going to do next … from graduate school to entering the workforce. There’s a push to come together as social issues grow in depth, severity and priority. I challenge you to take a bold stance and make a difference in your day-to-day work.”
Read the full commencement report here and footage from the ceremony below.
Professor Scott Galloway discusses how Walmart is positioning itself to compete with Amazon – NYU Stern News
NYU Stern School of Business professor of marketing Scott Galloway was recently interviewed as part of a CNNMoney piece on Walmart’s plan to take on Amazon as the country’s preeminent universal retailer, particularly when it comes to online grocery delivery. Galloway writes:
“Walmart is the only firm that has the management, capital and the scale to compete with Amazon. They’ve probably done as good a job of getting off their heels and on their toes as any retailer in the world.”
You can read the full story here.
Columbia Business School Reveals 2018-19 Essays and Deadlines
Right after the eve of graduation, Columbia Business School formally introduced its newest essays and deadline dates for the upcoming 2018-19 academic year.
Columbia Business School MBA Essays (2018-19)
Goal: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters)
Essay #1: Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years and what, in your imagination, would be your long term dream job? (500 words)
Essay #2: How will you take advantage of being “at the very center of business”? CBS urges those undertaking essay number two to watch this video from Dean Glenn Hubbard (250 words).
Essay #3: Please provide an example of a team failure of which you have been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently (250 words)?
Optional Essay: What else would you like to tell the Columbia admissions committee? You can use this space to provide your explanation if there any areas of concern in your own academic or personal history. This essay does not need to be traditionally formal and can include bullet points (maximum 500 words).
Columbia Business School MBA Deadlines (2018-19)
Early Decision (January) – October 3, 2018
Merit-Based Deadline – January 4, 2019
Final Regular Decision – April 10, 2019
Forced Good Behavior Isn’t Good, According to Columbia – New York News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York City business schools this week.
Columbia Business School: Mandated Corporate Good Behavior Hurts Bottom Line & Reduces Efforts to “Do Good” – CBS Newsroom
New research from Columbia Business School professor Shivaram Rajgopal finds that mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility as a business practice is a “value-decreasing proposition for shareholders, and a disincentive for corporate good behavior.”
Raigopal writes, “Our findings prove that CSR is counterproductive when governments get involved. In developing an effective method for measuring CSR’s impact on business we were able to prove that CSR only has value if it is a voluntary activity. Shareholder value decreases as mandatory CSR increases. In fact, mandatory CSR is, in effect, nothing more than an inefficient backdoor tax on private sector.”
You can read more about Raigopal’s research here.
Introduction of Craigslist Increased Prostitution Across U.S. – Experience Stern
New research from NYU Stern School of Business and the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management finds that “as Craigslist expanded across the United States, the free classifieds website also bolstered the sex industry,” which co-author Anindya Ghose, the Heinz Riehl Professor of Business at the Stern School, explains is “made up of both independent sex workers and workers operating under commercial vice groups.” In fact, Craigslist’s entry into a county increased prostitution cases—both “transactions by existing sex workers, as well as prompted recruitment and coercion of new ones”—by 17.58 percent.
The data was revealed in the recently-released study “The Digital Sin City: An Empirical Study of Craigslist’s Impact on Prostitution Trends”, which was “based on analysis of national panel data for 1,796 U.S. counties from 1999 to 2008.”
You can read more about the study here.
Lonely and Non-Empathetic People More Likely to Make Unethical Shopping Decisions – Binghamton SOM
New research from Binghamton SOM assistant professor of marketing Jenny Jiao finds that lonely consumers “very often behave immorally. And while these behaviors are often legal, they are unethical and cost retailers billions each year.”
She cites the common example of ‘wardrobing’ in which “someone may buy a big-screen TV for Super Bowl Sunday, only to return it on Monday; or they may buy a nice outfit for a night out, only to return it the next day.”
In Jiao’s paper, “Can Lonely People Behave Morally? The Joint Influence of Loneliness and Empathy on Moral Identity,” which was recently published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, she was interested in how much of a factor loneliness played in this type of consumer behavior.
“We found that lonely people are capable of empathizing and making moral decisions, but they may not have the intention or motivation to. But when empathy levels increase, we don’t see much difference between lonely people and non-lonely people. Lonely people will be more likely to engage in moral behaviors and less likely to engage in immoral behaviors when they feel empathy.”
Read more about Jiao’s research here.
Breaking Down the 2018 Financial Times Top Finance MBAs List
Big technology companies might be attracting top MBA talent, but they’re not the only ones in the running. Though the finance sector hasn’t seemed as popular in recent years, MBA employment is still holding its own in the industry. The difference is the types of jobs that the finance and banking sector are offering.
The finance industry offers a range of options when it comes to jobs. MBA students have the opportunity to work as part of in-house teams developing new digital strategies, working for fintech companies, and more. Finance and banking are still critical employers of MBA graduates. On average, 30 percent of graduates from top business schools around the world went into a career in finance. Continue reading…
New York City’s Work/Life Balance Problems, and More – New York City News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York City business schools this week.
Would You Like Your Boss to be Fined for Making You Reply to Emails? – NBC News
Lehigh University College of Business and Economics management professor Liuba Belkin’s work was recently cited by NBC News regarding a potential new NYC law that would effectively ban workers from being forced to reply to after-hours emails and other messages. The reason behind the proposed law is that the increasingly common practice in the U.S. is decreasing work-life quality, which was a provincial point of Belin and co-author William J. Becker’s study “Exhausted, but Unable to Disconnect: After-Hours Email, Work-Family Balance and Identification.”
The potential new law would not effectively ban those from sending messages after hours, but being forced to work off-the-clock would be subject to a fine of around $500 for each offense. France, NBC News writes, passed a similar law in 2017 “requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to negotiate after-hours email rules with workers, potentially allowing them to ignore post-work correspondence.”
Human resources manager Steve Wang thinks the lofty comparison to France’s work culture is not as easy in the U.S. The country has stricter labor laws, instituting 35 hour max work weeks, and a law preventing people from working 4.5 hours straight without any breaks, for instance.
Click here to read more about the law and Belin’s study.
What are the Best Healthcare MBAs You Can Find in New York City? – MetroMBA
Four of the best health care MBA programs reside in New York; three of which fall right inside the five boroughs. Columbia Business School, the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, the Stern School of Business at NYU, and the SC Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell in Ithaca each offer exemplary healthcare management learning options for any hopeful MBAs, some of which are coupled with dual degrees.
Find out more about the best healthcare MBAs you can find in New York here.
Daniel A. D’Aniello speaks on the value of mentorship in driving success – Johnson SOM Blog
Cornell University’s SC Johnson Graduate School of Management recently hosted Carlyle Group co-founder and former Marriot VP of Finance and Development Daniel A. D’Aniello at this year’s Lewis H. Durland Memorial Lecture.
D’Aniello used the talk as an opportunity offer invaluable entrepreneurship, stewardship, and mentorship advice to Johnson students from his distinguished career as co-founder of one of the world’s largest investment firms. He also “emphasized the importance of humility in recognizing one’s errors and understanding how to spend one’s time.” He elaborates:
“Allocate your valuable time to things that are going to scale, grow, and become profitable. Time is your highest opportunity cost.”
You can read more highlights from D’Aniello’s talk here.
Cornell FinTech Disruption, Crowd-Funding Wisdom, and More – New York News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York City business schools this week.
Fintech is Disrupting the Disruptors, and We’re Ready For It – Johnson School of Management Blog
S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management MBA candidate Arjun Devgan, ’18, highlighted how FinTech inventions such as cryptocurrencies, peer-to-peer lending, and smart insurance have begun to disrupt a post-PayPal landscape, which at one point disrupted traditional banking.
Devgan writes about two Cornell Tech intensives designed to “equip students to solve business problems in this age of digital transformation:” the digital marketing intensive and the fintech intensive.
“With my background in payments and remittances, the fintech intensive program offered me a launchpad to dive deep into the world of financial technology. Classes such as the Fintech Practicum, Business Models, Cryptocurrencies, and a Field Project with one of Citi Ventures’ portfolio companies offer a great combination of basic theoretical concepts and real-world experiential learning.”
Learn more about Johnson’s FinTech and Digital Marketing Intensives here.
Want People to Fund your Kickstarter Project? Sell Them on Your Reputation First – Binghamton School of Management Blog
Binghamton School of Management associate professor Ali Alper Yayla presented a new paper at the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, which found that potential Kickstarter backers are more concerned about a producer’s “ethical characteristics than their actual ability to make and deliver the product.” Professor Yayla writes:
“We found that people worry more about the seller’s honesty than whether the seller actually has the ability and knowledge to finish and deliver on the product. People don’t want sellers to just take their money and run. Crowdfunding is interesting because you’re literally buying something that isn’t finished from a person who has never made it before. There are no product reviews, and there are no seller reviews.”
Read more about Yayla’s research here.
Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook’s Mess? – Forbes
In Len Sherman’s recent Forbes article “Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook’s Mess?”, the Columbia Business School executive in residence and adjunct professor noted the company’s seemingly astounding naivety of how much information was secretly (or not so secretly) being scrubbed for use by third party companies like Cambridge Analytica.
“It’s been hard to fathom how a company reputed to be run by one of the world’s most brilliant digirati, could have been so naïve in not recognizing the risks in giving outside developers broad access to Facebook’s user data, so lax in failing to ensure that rogue data in malevolent hands was destroyed before it could be weaponized, and so reluctant to advise users that their personal information was (and still is) floating around cyberspace. In short, what was Mark Zuckerberg thinking?”
Sherman theorizes that part of the issue is Zuckerberg’s sincere overconfidence that technology and innovation can only be used for a greater good, rather than being possibly manipulated by less-than-ideal forces. This, Sherman continues, was all done despite a litany of data that proved Facebook’s nefarious actors and less-than-strict partnerships were actively making the platform less safe year by year.
Click here to see the rest of Sherman’s work with Forbes.