Northeastern’s New MBA Offering, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
When Your Moon Shots Don’t Take Off – Harvard Business Review
Many scholars seek to understand how we can move away from incremental thinking to what Google calls “10x thinking”—ideas that lead to “10-fold improvements rather than the more typical 10 percent ones.”
In a recent edition of Harvard Business Review, INSEAD Assistant Professor of Strategy Nathan Furr and Brigham Young’s Jeffrey H. Dyer say the real limit to “10x” ideas are biases that distort our perceptions and prevent us from seeing possibilities.
The duo present tactics and tools to challenge our instincts to avoid risk and choose the path of least resistance with the ultimate goal of breaking through to the realm of innovative possibilities.
Furr and Beesley describe how cell phones, earbuds, credit cards, self-driving cars, and atomic power were all inspired by science fiction. “Science fiction can provide a kind of rigorous optimism. There’s no magic; science fiction just provides the inspiration and then you make a rigorous plan and go for it.”
You can read more about the research over at HBR.
New MBA x Computer Science Degree Addresses Market Demand for Tech-Savvy Leaders – D’Amore-McKim School of Business News
“Breakthrough technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain promise higher productivity, enhanced efficiencies, and economic growth,” says Raj Echambadi, Dunton Family Dean at Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business.
Future business leaders need leadership frameworks but also hard technical skills to have a deeper understanding of how technology will impact the future of business. To meet this growing demand, D’Amore-McKim now offers a new full-time MBA degree concept: MBA x Computer Science.
On the new concentration at Northeastern/D’Amore-McKim, the school writes, “Students in the MBA x Computer Science track will choose one concentration in business and one concentration in computer science thanks to a partnership with Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer and Information Sciences, and they will also complete a corporate residency–a distinctive component of the Northeastern MBA program that is the hallmark of graduate experiential learning.”
“Business and technology are now intertwined, and to master a skill set in both areas will set our students apart and set them up for success,” says D’Amore-McKim Associate Dean of Graduate Programs Kate Klepper.
Dean Echambadi explains:
“These technologies are changing the way we live, learn, produce, and consume content, as well as how employees and enterprises work across all industries. Advanced business education is a critical component in helping people and industries navigate challenges with digital convergence and turn them into opportunities.”
Read the full D’Amore-McKim School of Business News article here.
Social Media Advertising Can Boost Fake News—Or Beat It – MIT Sloan Ideas Made to Matter
According to new research from MIT Sloan Economist Catherine Tucker and Occidental College’s Lesley Chiou, Ph.D. ’05, restricting or redirecting advertising on social media could be part of a solution to the problem of fake news.
After Facebook released a new advertising system that blocks ads from pages that repeatedly share fake news, researchers found a 75 percent reduction in the amount of fake news being shared on the platform.
Tucker and Chiou caution that the solution is far more complex than just advertising, however.
“The actions of platforms such as Facebook in regulating advertising do seem to have had an effect on the volume of fake news. However, our paper also emphasizes that in just focusing on ads and fake news, we are missing the bigger picture, which is the organic spread of misinformation by users themselves,” Tucker says in a recent interview wit MIT.
“The popularity of fake news may occur in the absence of advertising, as users share articles with others in their social network, but working to stamp out misinformation in those posts runs into its own set of problems,” Tucker adds.
“Trying to regulate that seems to get us into very problematic First Amendment territory.”
You can read more about Tucker and Chiou’s research here.
The Big Payback: The Highest Paying Jobs for MBAs
Even in 2019, the search for the right MBA program is as unique as each student, and the reasons for applying are as varied as the programs themselves. Advancement in an existing career is an obvious motivation, as is breaking into a new industry or shifting one’s career focus.
One thing that all MBAs can likely agree with, however, is that earning potential is a leading incentive. This brings up questions about the most lucrative fields. Choosing the right concentration can be the first step toward achieving a position that will truly pay off. The following is a look at the current highest paying jobs for MBAs, as well as the majors that can open the necessary doors.
The Highest Paying Jobs for MBAs
Topping the list of the highest paid professions for MBAs in 2018 is strategic management. This specialization leads the way in terms of early to mid career salary, with salary averages beginning at around $125,000. Professionals with this degree and concentration earned $148,000 at the mid-point of their careers. Among the career functions for MBAs with a strategy focus are management consultant, senior strategy manager, senior product manager. Google, Amazon, PwC, and Intel are among the companies hiring for strategic management based positions.
Second on the list of highest paying MBA careers is technology management, which for many grows out of a background in IT or software development. According to Monster.com, tech management careers can start at around $113,000 per year, and advancement leads to a jump to upwards of $165,000. Roles such as senior project manager, vice president of IT, and IT director all emerge from a tech background. Companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, Cisco Systems, and HP all offer leading starting salaries in the IT management field.
Entrepreneurship also falls into the top three earning fields for MBAs. Starting salaries, according to data gathered from PayScale, hover around $100,000 per year, and reach up to around $135,000. Such roles as senior project manager and management consultant are options in the entrepreneurial field, as are various leadership roles in the growing fintech industry. Top hiring companies for entrepreneurship MBAs, according to PayScale, are Amazon, IBM, General Electric, and the Boeing Company.
A career in finance is the fourth of the highest paying categories for MBAs, with a starting salary hovering in the $100,000 range. Those with their sights upon chief financial officer, portfolio management, or financial management positions can hope to land jobs in this arena with high earning power. New York Life Insurance, Fidelity Investments, and Vanguard are currently seeking MBAs for various finance positions.
Along with strategy, tech management, entrepreneurship, and finance, marketing ranks among the most lucrative fields for MBAs. While some marketing jobs do not require an MBA, one can see a wider, more profitable range of options with a specialized study in marketing. Upper level marketing positions can start at around $80,000 per year, and can grow well above $120,000. Current listings for MBAs with a marketing focus include Dell, Microsoft, and, of course, Amazon.
New MBA Jobs at Five Tech Giants
As the line between business and information technology industries continues to blur, more and more professionals are looking to business schools and MBA programs to get them into the tech industry. Here’s a rundown of some New MBA jobs at five different tech giants: Continue reading…
Oxford Saïd MBA Employment Rises Alongside Tech Industry Interest and New School Research
There’s no doubt that the tech industry and the MBA are becoming cozier. From fintech to well-known tech firms, MBAs are chasing after jobs at tech companies and vice versa. And this shift has definitely been felt and reflected at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School.
Over the last several weeks, the school has been talking up the importance of tech. It starts with the release of the latest Oxford MBA employment report, revealing that the employment rate had risen to 91 percent. It continues with the revelation that more MBAs are heading into the tech industry than ever before. From there, Saïd released a new research report, “Understanding Chief Digital Officers” to find out about this new position and how people can succeed in this new tech role.
As we said, it’s been a few busy weeks. So, we’ll take you on a brief deep-dive of the latest Oxford Saïd MBA tech news
Oxford MBAs Exhibit Mobility, Capability, and Interest in Tech
Although the UK is still facing a challenging economic environment, Oxford Saïd MBAs are overcoming. This year, the employment rate rose to 91 percent, and the average salary increased to £71,550, both of which are reliable indicators that Oxford MBAs are well set for their future careers. As Stuart Jagot, the Director of Career Development says, “Results demonstrate the international mobility and capability of the Oxford MBA.”
Jagot calls it a “tech revolution” with a significant number of MBA graduates launching successful tech careers. And much of that success is due to the school’s relationship with the industry.
For example, MBA student Daniel Peach worked in consulting before he took a year out to study at Oxford Saïd. From there, he built upon his tech credentials and analytical roles until he eventually landed an internship with Google. “Oxford Saïd’s relationship with Google was extremely helpful,” says Daniel. “The careers team also gave me some great preparation for the interview—particularly on behavioral aspects.” And he’s not the only success story.
MBA student Marla Woodward made the successful transition from product manager to a tech sector internship at Cisco. And William Ou made the transition to the fast-evolving world of fintech, thanks to his MBA at Oxford Saïd.
“When I arrived in Oxford there was so much going on with blockchain technology which, honestly, I had never heard of. In one of the many company presentations at the School, I met the people from Blockchain.info, the world’s most popular bitcoin wallet, where I eventually did my Summer Internship and got into the cryptocurrency/blockchain world.”
The new Digital Marketing Pathway for tech-minded students has been an enormous help. The pathway provides access to General Assembly online curriculum, which helps students develop the tech skills they need for their future careers. There’s also the Oxford Saïd Careers Academy, which helps MBA students with career development planning, guidance, practical exercises, and 1-1 coaching in their career of choice. Together, these programs have helped Oxford Saïd students become successful in tech careers. (Learn more.)
Oxford Saïd Goes Inside the Role of Chief Digital Officer
For the aforementioned “Understanding Chief Digital Officers” paper, the business school interviewed 41 Chief Digital Officers (CDOs) in 13 countries to understand who they are, what they do, and how they can be successful. Researchers found that the role was full of “challenging contradictions” with a severe lack of clarity around the role and a wide range of tensions.
Lead author Gillian Brooks says:
“The CDO role has typically been created by large, established companies who can feel under threat from digital disruption in their markets as well as being excited by the opportunities that new technologies can offer. But there is no consensus on the ideal background or qualifications for a CDO, where the role should sit in the organizational structure, or even what a CDO does.”
The authors explain that CDOs are forced to do their job and define it at the same time with other C-suite executives having no understanding of what a CDO does. This makes the CDO role highly dependent on the goodwill and support of the CEO because if they’re not on board with their position, then nothing gets done. At the same time, while a CDO’s role is transformative, it’s also transient, since many times they can end up making themselves redundant.
Author Michael Smets, Associate Professor in Management and Organization, says:
“We discovered that, whatever their background, the most successful CDOs were those who are comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. They embrace complexity and paradox by finding ways to make seemingly incongruent, contradictory elements of their roles fit together.”
The combination of Oxford Saïd’s MBA curriculum, which supports tech, and the School’s tech-centric research and career development have made the tech industry attractive for Saïd MBAs. And it doesn’t look like that interest will wane anytime soon.
You can learn more on the school’s website and check out the full report here.
The Best MBA Internships: Midwest
The Midwest is a great place to live. Not only is it among the friendliest places in the U.S., but it’s home to some top-rated MBA programs including the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business.
So, with all these great schools in the area, the question is, where should you look for your MBA internship in the Midwest?
Below, we’ve highlighted 14 of the best MBA internships spread out over the cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Minneapolis.
When it comes to the Midwest, Chicago is the foregone epicenter. And there’s no doubt that it’s a great city for internships with many top companies. Chicago is home to nearly 40 Fortune 500 companies while also being considered the financial and cultural hub of the area.
So, where should you look for an internship in Chicago? There are many options:
- McKinsey & Company: McKinsey is known for recruiting from a variety of Midwest schools, including Chicago Booth, Northwestern Kellogg, Indiana University Kelley, and Carnegie Mellon Tepper. In fact, last year McKinsey & Co hired 48 employees from Booth. This accounts for nearly 10 percent of the 2017 Booth MBA class.
- United Airlines: United Airlines is headquartered in Chicago, IL and has a wide variety of MBA internship opportunities available in the city. There are opportunities in marketing, financial planning and analysis, HR, legal, corporate and government affairs, and more.
- Google: For an internship with Google in the Midwest, then Chicago is where you need to be. The Google internship program has openings for students interested in business strategy, finance, hardware, people operations, product management, and more.
As the largest city in Wisconsin and the fifth largest city in the Midwest, Milwaukee is another great location for MBA internships. The city is known for manufacturing and service companies and is home to six Fortune 500 companies. In particular, the city is known for having a large number of financial service firms and health care opportunities.
In terms of internships in the city, you should keep your eye on these companies:
- U.S. Bank: An internship at U.S. Bank is a great choice if you’re looking for the opportunity to work for the fifth largest bank in the U.S. There are opportunities to intern in distributed database administration, fund services, product management, private capital management, lending services, and more.
- Northwestern Mutual: Headquartered in the city, Northwestern Mutual is home to many MBA-level internships. Students can intern in public investments, analytics, strategic sourcing, and more.
- SC Johnson: In Racine, WI, just outside of Milwaukee, MBA students can find an internship opportunity at SC Johnson. There are openings in marketing, finance, sales, research and development, manufacturing, and IT. It’s an ideal company for those interested in a career in manufacturing.
Cleveland, Ohio home to manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and biomedical companies. Many top-rated companies call the city home including NACCO Industries, Sherwin-Williams, Applied Industrial Technologies, and KeyCorp. NASA also maintains a facility in Cleveland.
For internship opportunities in the area, look to:
- Eaton: The Eaton MBA internship program is ideal for global MBA students who are interested in the energy industry. Eaton is a $20.4 billion company with 95,000 employees around the world with MBA internships in supply chain management, human resources, and more.
- Nestle: Located in Solon, OH, just outside of Cleveland, Nestlé has an MBA internship program for students interested in marketing or brand management. Internships get the opportunity to work with the company’s global portfolio of more than 2,000 leading brands.
- KeyCorp: Headquartered in Cleveland, KeyCorp is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies with more than $134.5 billion in assets. Every year, they high MBA summer associates in investment banking
St. Louis is the cultural and economic epicenter of Missouri. As the 19th largest city in the U.S., it is considered a major economical center for service, manufacturing, trade, and tourism. The metro area is home to many major corporations including Anheuser-Busch, Boeing Defense, Energizer, Panera, Enterprise, Edward Jones, and Purina. In fact, nine Fortune 500 companies call the city home.
Top MBA internships in St. Louis include:
- Monsanto: The beleaguered Monsanto was recently acquired by Bayer to strengthen its agricultural division. The MBA internship is designed for individuals interested in digital strategy and innovation.
- Emerson: The U.S. MBA leadership program at Emerson is designed for students interested in marketing, operations, supply chain, strategy, HR, financial, or business development. Each year, the company interviews more than 400 MBA candidates to fill their roles.
- Ameren Corp: As a leader in energy, the Ameren MBA internship is ideal for candidates interested in providing new solutions to tomorrow’s energy needs. MBAs interested in environmental policy and sustainability are preferred.
Minneapolis is the larger of the Twin Cities and the 16th largest metro area in the U.S. Recognized as a global city, the economy is known for business, medicine, sports, manufacturing, and research. Five Fortune 500 companies call Minneapolis their home including Target, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy, Ameriprise Financial, and Thrivent Financial.
The best MBA internships in the area include:
- Target: The Target Arrows Leadership Development Program is designed for MBA students interested in being a part of Target’s global supply chain and logistics. It’s ideal for individuals interested in operations.
- S. Bank: Headquartered in the city, U.S. Bank is home to a ten-week competitive internship for students interested in retail payment solutions, enterprise strategy, lending services, performance engineering, and more. Here’s an example of the ad for a product management intern.
DMSB Keynote Speaker Encourages MBAs, New Startups, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
Life is Like a Venture Investment, Biotech Entrepreneur Tells Business Graduates – D’Amore-McKim Blog
The Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business selected biotech entrepreneur Dr. Gerald Chan as the keynote speaker at the DMSB graduation ceremony last month.
Dr. Chan, whose private investment firm Morningside Group funds “life sciences startups that are working to discover new ways to treat disease,” implored the assembled crowd at Matthews Arena to “live a life that makes themselves and their loved ones proud” even if “life can be at times so scary and at other times so exhilarating.”
Dr. Chan shared a personal anecdote about his father’s refusal to accept a job at casino on ethical grounds: “Had he accepted that offer, our family would have become financially richer. But because he acted on his ethical principles against his own economic interest, my family can stand tall today.”
D’Amore-McKim School of Business graduates, during last month’s ceremony / Photo via damore-mckim.northeastern.edu
You can read the full article here for a complete overview of the ceremony.
Winning Paper Shows Network Effects Fuel Business Value and Upend Strategy – Questrom School of Business Blog
BU Questrom School of Business‘ Marshall Van Alstyne recently co-authored new research that finds that “platform businesses” that depend on high numbers of users like Microsoft, Apple, Uber, Google, and Amazon scale much faster by moving value creation from “internal production to external orchestration.”
In “Platform Ecosystems: How Developers Invert the Firm,” Van Alstyne and his co-authors conclude that this approach will reverberate through “every part of a business, from marketing to operations to human resources.”
“Instead of a firm doing all its own marketing, consumers can add value through viral marketing. Instead of AirBnB incurring operating costs of a hotel stay, ecosystem partners bear those costs.”
“Instead of hiring employees inside the firm, platforms rely on freelancers outside the firm. In each of these instances, the value-creating activity shifts from inside to outside the firm. This shift affects all of the traditional business functions. It also has profound implications for fair division of wealth in society.”
You can read the full article here and the complete paper here.
25 MIT Startups To Watch – MIT Sloan Newsroom
On Saturday, September 8, Bill Aulet, Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship told the crowd at the MIT Kresge Auditorium, “We’re not just going to be doing another dating app.”
“We’re going to be doing things like addressing inclusion in society, making a more informed citizen throughout the world, cybersecurity, mental health, urbanization, improving ed-tech, improving health care. These are significant problems that the brightest people in the world should be working on, and those people are MIT students.”
The ambitions Aulet spoke about were created from the 25 startups built within the MIT delta v accelerator, which you can check out here.
