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.
Why Amazon Keeps Hiring MBAs
Editors Note: This article on Amazon hiring MBA students is an updated version of the original.
When thinking about the largest tech sector companies in the world, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and Amazon are sure to top the list. Not only are these companies on the forefront of technological advancement in business and consumer electronics, they are also major players in the MBA job market.
Of all these notable heavyweights, Amazon is the biggest employer of graduates from elite business schools. According to the U.S. News & World Report’s top 20 rankings (from schools that release company-level hiring statistics), the e-commerce powerhouse hired more than twice as many top MBAs in 2016 as Microsoft, the next biggest tech employer. And with the upcoming development of HQ2, the company’s second headquarters, demand for MBA-level talent is sure to increase at the ever-expanding ecommerce giant.
Amazon—a company that offers online retail, cloud computing, mobile devices and media streaming services—has plenty of workforce needs. According to its annual report, Amazon has 230,800 full- and part-time employees. According to QZ, the company currently lists almost 17,000 open jobs among its corporate positions.
Why Is Amazon Hiring MBA Students?
Across all industries, Amazon is the fifth-largest employer of graduating MBAs, according to data on more than 200 full-time MBA programs collected by Bloomberg Businessweek. Amazon is also No. 4 on the 2013 Universum list of most popular MBA employers, up from No. 8 in 2011 and No. 6 in 2012.
Why the focus on hiring top MBA talent? Miriam Park, director of university programs at Amazon, told the Financial Times:
Miriam Park
“The Amazon recruitment process is designed to ensure we hire top candidates with high-growth potential whatever their background may be. As part of this we recruit current MBA students and MBA alumni for permanent and internship opportunities worldwide and see MBAs as an important part of our leadership development. We value people who can balance long-term strategic thinking with tactical execution, and who have the ability to make data-driven decisions.”
She added:
“We value MBAs for, in many cases, the global approach that they can bring to the business with many candidates having worked and studied in more than one country. Their range of experience and variety of backgrounds is invaluable in bringing a different way of looking at our business. We also value the analytical skills that they develop through their MBA. In fact, many of our senior leaders started at Amazon after completing MBAs.”
Which Potential Paths Leads to Employment at Amazon?
The best way that an MBA can get in with Amazon and end up with a job is to apply for an internship. Amazon also offers an MBA program that intends to create a pipeline from top business schools to actual jobs within the organization. Amazon offers several full-time opportunities to MBA interns. Each role lasts 11 to 12 weeks and provides students the opportunity to complete function-specific projects.
The company also offers a robust 8 to 12-week summer MBA internship that gives participants the opportunity to hone their decision-making ability in real-life consumer, finance, HR, technology businesses and operations environments. According to CNNMoney, Amazon’s summer internships host more than 170 interns from more than two dozen business schools each year.
What Kind of Jobs Can I Get at Amazon with an MBA?
As CNNMoney outlines, MBAs at Amazon may end up in any number of roles, whether it’s launching new products, finding ways to optimize the customer experience or evaluating the company’s future business investments.
Park discussed specific jobs that are offered to MBAs with the Financial Times. In terms of potential career options for MBAs at Amazon, she outlined participation in the Consumer Leadership Development (CLD) program, Pathways program for operations managers and Senior Financial Analyst (SFA) development program, as well as the role of senior product manager.
CLD is a three-year leadership development program in which MBAs rotate through two different roles from a choice of areas such as vendor management, in-stock management, marketing management, merchant management and/or retail product management. The goal of the program is to provide MBAs with a path to leadership roles at Amazon. Participants develop an understanding of the key roles within retail and become effective managers.
Pathways is a three-year, field-based program based out of warehousing and shipping centers for merchant goods and customer service sites. This is a position in which MBAs will have to develop leadership ability to complete fulfillment center and customer service operations.
SFA is a three-year leadership development program in which senior financial analysts are expected to evaluate and quantify new business ideas and perform data-intensive analyses to improve the way Amazon serves its customers.
Senior product managers work with technology teams to drive ideas from conception to execution, develop business models and marketing plans, define and analyze success metrics, manage strategic projects and own the product end to end. This job offers an inside track to future roles as general managers responsible for running large business segments.
