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.
News Roundup – Vanderbilt Grants LGBTQ Fellowship, McCombs at SXSW, and More
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this week, including the new LGBTQ Fellowship offered at the Vanderbilt University Owen School of Business.
Greg Geffre (EMBA’21) Will be the First Recipient of the Executive MBA Program’s Reaching Out LGBTQ MBA Fellowship – Owen School of Business News
Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Business granted its first Reaching Out LGBTQ MBA Fellowship to Executive MBA candidate Greg Geffre.
Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) is a nonprofit organization that helps LGBTQ b-school students to develop their professional goals via scholarships, networking, and educational programming. This is the first year that the group will assist an Executive MBA, but Reaching Out MBA Fellowships have been granted to previous daytime students at Vanderbilt for the past several years.
Greg Geffre began his career with Wells Fargo in its financial crimes division, and shifted into a compliance analyst role at UBS after relocating recently to Nashville. He has participated in the Pride Networks at both organizations. Of his experience, Geffre says:
“Coming to a new city, not having a graduate degree—I knew that was something I wanted to do. And I knew that now is the best time to do it … After the MBA, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to start transitioning myself as more of a senior leader and start moving into more into a higher-level decision maker role. An advanced degree is necessary to do that.”
For more on Vanderbilt’s Executive MBA program, visit the program page. Read here for more on ROMBA.
He Fights On for Marines and USC – USC Marshall News
This summer, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation honored USC Marshall alum and trustee William “Bill” Schoen with the Semper Fidelis award.
According to the Foundation’s statement, “In the spirit of the award’s meaning, ‘always faithful,’ Schoen was commemorated for his many contributions to the Marine Corps community and Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation’s mission to empower Marine children in their pursuit for a higher education.”
Schoen served in the Marine Corps from 1953-1961, and he has served as member of the Founders’ Group of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. He also serves on the Advisory Cabinet of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation’s American Patriots Campaign. “The Marine Corps opened my eyes to the endless possibilities available through hard work, dedication, sacrifice, honor. This is one of the reasons that supporting other Marines and the Marine Corps in such an integral way is part of my life,” says Schoen.
It is also, he continued, a reason that he pursued a career in business leadership. Schoen was founder and CEO of Health Management Associates Inc., which he established in 1985. Under Schoen’s leadership, the Florida-based corporation, which specialized in management of over 70 acute care and psychiatric facilities, earned a place in the Fortune 500.
Schoen received the USC Alumni Association’s highest award for his achievements in 2016. Read here for more on Schoen and the Semper Fidelis award.
Vote McCombs for SXSW 2020 – McCombs School of Business News
Faculty from The University of Texas McCombs School of Business hope to share their knowledge at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2020, and they are asking for help from the public to nominate them for a spot at the conference.
Potential speakers have posted a number of possible topics on which they can speak at SXSW, and the selections and voting instructions can be found here. Voters can choose from such topics as cryptocurrency and big data in daily life. Other potential talks are The Power of Students as Policy Entrepreneurs, (in the Higher Ed category); Alexa, Call the Healthcare Cyberwarrior Hotline! (in the MedTech Category); and People Analytics and the Game of Life in the Workplace category.
Members of the McCombs School of Business will be speaking at next years SXSW in Austin, Texas.
This year’s SXSW conference will take place March 13 – 22, 2020 in Austin.
How Big Data Can Combat Addiction – Fox School of Business News
Kuang-Yao Lee, Assistant Professor of Statistical Science at the Fox School of Business, has researched one of the most pressing issues of today: the problem of addiction among U.S. veterans.
The Veterans Administration has launched a study of one million veterans to track alcohol use over time in order to discover more effective treatment options. This is where Professor Lee’s statistical expertise comes in. Funded by the Office for the Vice President of Research at Temple University along with the VA, Lee’s process includes gathering data blood samples and health updates from veterans. The team’s hope is to identify specific combinations of genes that result in addiction, in order to apply earlier interventions in the future.
“Previous studies have suggested [these genes exist], but mostly were only limited to small scales or restricted conditions,” he says. “We want to use statistical models to find out if this is really a valid assumption. Our results so far suggest a very strong association.”
While health records and blood testing have long been available to researchers with similar goals, big computing has reached a point where it can gather millions more data points and process them at an exponentially greater speed. Lee hopes to apply the same methodology of data processing for not only addiction, but for other genetic, behavioral, and health problems. Read more on Lee’s research and on the VA’s efforts here.
UC Berkeley Launches Joint Master’s Degree in Business and Engineering – Berkeley Haas News
Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and College of Engineering have launch a dual MBA/MEng degree program, beginning enrollment in 2020.
Aimed at early career professionals, the degree will help students to advance into leadership roles with a unique knowledge base. MBA/MEng Program Faculty Director Candace Yano, who teaches at both Haas and Berkeley Engineering, says, “The program will prepare students to meet industry demands for graduates who are both business- and technology-savvy and can lead technical innovation efforts—a combination of skills needed in Silicon Valley and beyond.”
The all-new MBA/MEng degree at Berkeley Haas is slated to begin in 2020, with 20-30 students per cohort.
The demand for individuals with mastery of each field is great at companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Boston Consulting Group, Citibank, KPMG, and Genentech. With multiple openings for jobs like principal architect, marketing analytics manager, strategy and operations manager and product manager, these organizations require the high level of understanding of how business grows upon technology.
Inspired by Berkeley’s undergraduate Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology Program (M.E.T.), the program will welcome 20-30 student cohorts during its inaugural year. Read here for more on the MBA/MEng degree.
UC Davis Launches Online MBA, Author Sam Walker Speaks at Fisher, and More
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this week, including the a new Online MBA at UC Davis.
UC Davis Graduate School of Management to Offer Online MBA – UC Davis News
The University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management recently announced its new Online MBA, the first of its kind across the school’s ten campuses. Now accepting applications, MBA@Davis will welcome its inaugural class on September 30, 2019.
The online MBA will offer opportunities for working professionals and other students to earn their degree at their own pace with virtual meetings and interactive courses. Faculty and lecturers from the traditional full and part-time programs will lead classes, each of which will have a live weekly session.
A culminating residential session will allow students to experience campus life, along with the chance to connect with one another and their professors. Members of the startup community and executives from Fortune 500 companies will also visit for networking and mentoring opportunities. The duration of the program will be two years, and four cohorts will start each September.
The online MBA will open the top 50 ranked UC Davis degree to students worldwide. For more on the new Online MBA at UC Davis, click here.
Simple, Not Easy: Talking Leadership with Bestselling Author Sam Walker – Fisher Newsroom
Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business recently welcomed Wall Street Journal columnist and author Sam Walker to the school’s Leading Through Excellence summit last month.
Walker’s book, The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership, which explores the essential qualities of successful leaders, has been voted one of the year’s best business books by the New York Times and CNBC. Walker focuses upon the commonalities between great sports teams and great project teams, in particular how their coaches, captains and managers led them to success.
Sam Walker, author of the celebrated The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership / Photo via fisher.osu.edu
As the book’s website notes, “The seventeen most dominant teams in sports history had one thing in common: Each employed the same type of captain—a singular leader with an unconventional set of skills and tendencies.” Members of the so-called “Captain Class”, according to Walker, all possess the qualities of courage to stand apart from the crowd, doggedness, and emotional control.
Walker says that another quality of captains is that while natural talent is helpful in advancing through the ranks of leadership, it is not vital.
“We’re all realizing that management … is really the key to everything, and so many challenges can be addressed by building better teams and being smarter about how you promote,” Walker says.
For more on the book and Sam Walker, click here.
Adtalem Global Education and Northeastern University Form Strategic Partnership – Northeastern University News
Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business has announced a new partnership with Adtalem, a leader in financial services education.
D’Amore-McKim and Adtalem will work to provide training on a global scale, beginning with the Certificate in AI for Financial Services. With this, managers and team leaders will be at the forefront of their organizations’ adoption of AI, and they will also be able to gauge their companies’ readiness for adoption.
Designed to be completed in eight-to-ten hours over two-to-four weeks, the course will begin this summer. Lisa Wardell, President and CEO of Adtalem, says, “We are pleased to partner with Northeastern University as a major thought leader consistently at the forefront of AI, and to expand this partnership into other academic areas and industries.”
The banking and financial services industries are particularly well served by the use of AI, with such applications as improving the accuracy of credit scoring, algorithmic stock trading, and fraud detection. “Breakthrough technologies, including artificial intelligence, offer the promise of higher productivity, enhanced efficiencies, and economic growth,” says Raj Echambadi, the D’Amore-McKim Dunton Family Dean at Northeastern University of the new certificate.
For more on the AI for Financial Services certificate, contact AIFinancialServices@adtalem.com.
Cryptocurrencies in the Classroom – Lebow College of Business News
Drexel University’s Lebow College of Business has become a leader in education on FinTech with help from the school’s TD Bank Endowed Professor of Finance Michelle Lowry. The school’s course, entitled Cryptocurrency and FinTech, was introduced this quarter with positive feedback from students and guest lecturers.
“It’s important for students to have the knowledge of what is going on in the [cryptocurrency] space, but also to have the academic framework so they can understand the bigger picture … In order to understand Bitcoin, you need a bit of historical perspective about what money is,” says Lowry.
In order to understand Bitcoin, you need a bit of historical perspective about what money is,” Lebow Professor Michelle Lowry says.
Lowry welcomed Chris Carroll, Associate Teaching Professor of information science in Drexel’s College of Computing and Informatics along with Edwin Handschuh, co-founder and CEO of 1Konto, a broker/dealer startup focused on cryptocurrency exchanges to speak to students.
Handschuh says, “A lot of top-tier, leading-edge schools are approaching this topic… I’m glad to see Drexel is one of them.”
For more on the course and other Lebow curriculum offerings, click here.
Women in Business Conference Focuses on Personal Branding, Inclusion – Lehigh College of Business and Economics News
The Lehigh University College of Business and Economics recently hosted its annual Women in Business Conference, welcoming various experts on personal branding, workplace assertiveness, and ways in which to make oneself valuable as a new hire.
Maria Chrin ’87, managing partner of Circle Wealth Management; Dipti Gulati ’90, Senior Audit Partner at Deloitte; and Hayward Bell ’78G, retired Chief Diversity Officer at Raytheon, all served as panelists for the Personal Branding discussion. Adjunct professor Jacquelyn Febbo served as moderator.
Gulati offered some advice to students regarding how to handle conflict in the workplace: be prepared with facts to make your point, but do so calmly. “Being prepared is important … I want disagreements, I want people to challenge. It’s the only way we can get better.”
Magda Yrizarry, Chief Talent and Diversity officer at Verizon, delivered the keynote speech. On the topic of inclusion, she says, “Diversity is counting heads. Inclusion is making those heads count.”
You can read more about the recent conference 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.
NJ Monthly Mag Highlights Rutgers EMBA Doctors, 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.
NJ Monthly Mag Highlights Rutgers EMBA Doctors – Rutgers Business Blog
According to stats released by Rutgers Business School, it’s not uncommon to find between 1-5 doctors in a typical EMBA class. This is largely due to the new reality of the medical profession, which has increasingly required that doctors “transition from medical practice to running hospitals, managing hospital finances, heading-up HMOs, working for pharmaceutical companies and becoming Chief Medical Officers.”
Three Rutgers EMBA Doctors made New Jersey Monthly Magazine’s annual “Top Doctors” list:
- Clifford Sales, a vascular surgery specialist at Overlook Medical Center
- Eric Seaman, a male infertility specialist at the Urology Group of New Jersey
- Jacqueline Williams-Phillips, the medical director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and associate professor of Pediatrics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Learn more about these EMBA Superstar Doctors here.
Patagonia Exec Talks ‘Fast Fashion,’ Fair Trade, and What It Means to Be A Responsible Company – Gabelli Connect
The Gabelli School of Business‘ Center for Humanistic Management recently hosted a guest lecture from Vincent Stanley, the Patagonia director of philosophy, in which he talked about how corporate responsibility has directly shaped the company’s business.
“One of our big concerns is how we look at the challenges of the planet and ensure that our company is not contributing to those challenges and instead contributing to the solutions. Nature is not just where we go to play. The health of our natural systems underlines all of our social and industrial systems, even in this tiny little town where we were based.”
Vincent Stanley, Patagonia director of philosophy / Photo via fordham.edu
You can read more about Stanley’s lecture here.
Can Stevens Students Create a Cryptocurrency Exchange? Bank on It – Stevens Institute of Technology SOB Blog
A team of Stevens Institute of Technology School of Business seniors recently announced its plans to unveil Coin Complex, a cryptocurrency exchange designed to address and improve upon the limitations of the current trading options, at the May 2 Innovation Expo. George Engroff, a senior finance major who recently completed a summer internship with Credit Suisse, elaborates: “The exchanges I was using were completely inadequate—none of them gave you a good understanding of the market and your portfolio. So I thought, here at Stevens, we have a lot of smart people and innovators—I’m sure we could make a better exchange than what’s out there.”
The Coin Complex login / Photo via Tom Braunck
You can find out more about Coin Complex here.
How a Rutgers Part-Time MBA Led to a Dream Job, 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.
Part-Time MBA Proves to be a Steppingstone to Dream Job – Rutgers Business School
From running phone sales in Manhattan, to working her way up the corporate business to business ladder, Allegra Kipnis, a part-time MBA candidate from the Rutgers Business School in New Brunswick, found her “dream job.”
In a recent profile with the school, Kipnis divulged that earning her MBA helped her earn multiple promotions with Verizon. But, even after being let go, she (with the help of the Rutgers community) helped her refine her career path on the way to a dream role with Panasonic as an internal communications specialist.
“The MBA program gave me the tools I needed to eventually land my dream job, but funny enough, after all I had learned, it turned out to be just one more step in the story of my career,” she said in the interview.
Kipnis, a part-time MBA candidate at Rutgers / photo via Rutgers.edu
You can more about Kipnis’ career path and the Rutgers Business School part-time MBA program here.
A Combination of Personality Traits Might Make You More Addicted to Social Networks – Binghamton School of Management
The Binghamton University School of Management recently published new research, “Personality Predictors of IT Addiction,” in which assistant professor of management information systems Isaac Vaghefi, along with DePaul’s Hamed Qahri-Saremi, examined which collection of personality traits often leads to social networking addiction among 300 college-aged students: neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Vaghefi writes:
“It’s more of a holistic approach to discover what kind of people are more likely to develop an addiction. Rather than just focusing on one personality trait, this allows you to look at an all-inclusive personality profile.”
Read more about the duo’s research here.
Admissions Bridge Connects Diverse Undergraduates to MBA Possibilities – Johnson School of Management Feed
The SC Johnson School of Management blog recently published an overview of the school’s second annual Johnson Admissions Bridge—an event that encourages “undergraduate women and students from underrepresented backgrounds at Cornell to consider business school and discover ways to begin preparing now.”
The Bridge is “part of a larger initiative to ensure a diverse population is offered the opportunity to attend business school.” Judi Byers, executive director of admissions and financial aid at Johnson, explains:
“At Johnson, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to contribute to the pipeline of diverse talent ultimately seeking entry into top business schools and the companies and organizations they will lead afterward. The Bridge is a way to connect with our undergraduate students here at Cornell and gives us the chance to talk with them about potential career paths and how an MBA might offer value to their short and long term career goals.”
Learn more about the Cornell Bridge here.
