Gig Jobs vs. Full-Time and Revenue Sharing – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
Should It Be a Gig or a Job? – Questrom School of Business News
New research from Boston University Questrom School of Business‘ Associate Professor Andrei Hagiu and National University of Singapore’s Julian Wright examines how firms classify an employee versus an independent contractor, and how this relates to revenue sharing.
Hagiu notes that this classification greatly depends on the amount of decision-making power that firms cede to workers—and that appropriate revenue sharing should follow suit.
“In many cases, the share of variable revenue that is retained by workers is a good proxy for whether they can be considered independent contractors or regular employees,” says Hagiu.
The research notes:
“Firms that wish to classify their workers as independent contractors and provide a higher share of transferable decisions to workers should be paying them at least half of variable revenues. Firms that pay less than half of variable revenues to a worker should likely employ the worker, but provide a lower share of transferable decisions to workers.”
You can find out more from the research here.
Your Acquired Hires are Leaving and Here’s Why – MIT Sloan Ideas That Matter
Large companies often acquire startups in order to eliminate competition, with the added benefit of gaining skilled and innovative workers. Unfortunately, new research from MIT Sloan doctoral candidate Daniel Kim shows that this “acqui-hiring” strategy is not as effective as some think.
According to Kim’s paper, “Predictable Exodus: Startup Acquisitions and Employee Departures,” within the first year of a company’s acquisition, 33 percent of acquired workers left, compared to 12 percent of regular hires.
While those percentages tend to level off over time, in the three-year window Kim studied, acquired workers were 15 percent more likely to leave than new hires. This exodus is largely due to an organizational mismatch and new hires’ lack of agency.
Employment retention data, courtesy of Meredith Somers at MIT Sloan.
“People who work at startups join a startup for a reason,” Kim says. “Primarily they want to be in a very entrepreneurial, scrappy organization. But once they get acquired by a big firm, that is in direct opposition with the preferences that they have.”
You can read more about Kim’s research here.
The Accidental Restaurateur – Carroll School of News
Joe Essa, BC Carroll Alum ‘79, told the Carroll School of Business Blog that it was “a bit of a fluke” that he ended up becoming a successful restaurateur and ultimately the President and CEO of Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, overseeing more than 50 eateries across the nation along with licensing Puck’s cookbooks, canned soup, and other consumer products.
In 1983, when tending to his ill father in Greensboro, Essa was approached by a real estate developer friend, who needed a restaurant to complete a shopping center project. Café Pasta, Greensboro’s first casual Italian restaurant, was born.
Essa refers to the curriculum he learned at Carroll to keep him on track: “I always drew upon my accounting training … I knew you had to end up with some money in the bank! So I was very disciplined in that regard from day one.”
Eventually Essa sold his share of Café Pasta and came to work with Wolfgang Puck in 1999. He spoke passionately about his eclectic role within the organization.
“It’s not just one kind of dining, it’s many different kinds of restaurants, different cuisine. And then looking into the leases, license agreements, and marketing and promotion for all those businesses. And the people you get to meet along the way are fascinating. You get up every day and it’s different, it’s exciting, and it’s humbling. I just count my blessings.”
Click here to find out more about Essa’s life and career.
UCLA Announces John Wooden Global Fellows for 2018, and More – Los Angeles News
Happy Friday!
Before we close out November, let’s look into some of the biggest news from the Los Angeles business school community from the week that was.
UCLA Anderson Announces 2018 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellows – UCLA Anderson News
The UCLA Anderson School of Management just announced the 2018 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellows, a program which, according to Anderson’s website, honors students who exemplify “leadership ideals and a commitment to improving the lives of others.”
The fellowship was named after Naismith Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden. Wooden, perhaps the most successful NCAA basketball coach of all-time, won 10 national championships with the UCLA men’s team from 1964 to 1975, coaching up NBA legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Bill Walton.
The four fellows, Jessica Barnette, Leah Maddock Loh, Gerry Sims, and Ryan Tan, are all currently pursuing MBA degrees at UCLA Anderson.
Barnette, who also received her master’s of public health at UCLA, is currently Director of Operations at WellStart Health, an organization that offers innovative methods to reduce chronic disease. Leah Maddock Loh also attended UCLA for her master of public health degree, and her current work focuses upon reproductive education with Kaiser Permanente.
Gerry Sims, a U.S. Marine veteran, received an undergraduate degree in management from Purdue University before deciding to join the military. He was deployed in Afghanistan twice, serving as an intelligence officer. Sims recently worked with Google’s small business division where he focused on increasing diversity. He works to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides assistance to families of veterans and the vets themselves as they re-enter civilian life.
Ryan Tan has also integrated his military service into his MBA and his career. A member of the armed services in Singapore, Tan is pursuing his EMBA at UCLA in conjunction with coursework at the National University of Singapore. He brings the values he learned from his extensive military service to his role as head of mergers and acquisitions at StarHub Ltd., one of Singapore’s largest telecommunications companies.
You can learn more about the John Wooden Global Leadership Fellows here, which will also featured a moderated discussion with celebrated Anderson alum and YouTube figurehead Susan Wojcicki.
LMU LA Hosts talk on Investment in Research Science – Loyola Marymount University LA News
Entrepreneur Jim Demetriades (LMU LA ’85), the founder of Kairos Ventures, returned to Loyola Marymount Los Angeles, discussing the importance of private funding for scientific research. Sponsored by the Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship, Demetriades’ talk was entitled “How Science Will Change the World in the Next Five Years.”
In the aftermath of several recent events, such as natural disasters and the cuts in research funding by the U.S., Demetriades believes that privatization of such funding is the wave of the future. With a background that combines computer science, mathematics, and economics, Demetriades formed his own software company which led to the formation of Kairos.
His goal is to “turn scientific breakthroughs into successful businesses.” Among his recent projects is raising $50 million for research at Caltech. He foresees innovative developments in various industries, such as wireless devices that can charge from up to 20 feet away, and artificial insect pheromones meant to increase crop efficiency.
You can learn more about the school’s investment in research here.
Banking on Success: A Look at Careers in the Banking Industry with CommerceWest CEO Ivo Tjan ’99 – Mihaylo College of Business
Ivo Tjan, (Mihaylo ’99) recently shared his insight with current Mihaylo College of Business MBAs into why the banking industry is an increasingly worthwhile as a career venture.
Tjan, who became a CEO at the incredibly young age of 27, had just received his undergrad degree when he earned the job. With a niche at CommerceWest that provides commercial services for companies with revenues between $5 million and $100 million, Tjan is a leader in providing services to small to medium sized companies.
“There are not many people going into banking because it is unsexy.” Tjan says. “But the unsexy part is the entry into the opportunities you will have. There is a huge vacuum for young people to take new roles and responsibilities that will create good value for them … [with a banking career] you get to meet many entrepreneurs and business owners who are starting off, on their way to becoming multi-million dollar successes.”
The talk focused also upon the importance of mentorship at Cal State Fullerton. “When I wanted to apply the real-world fundamentals to [my mentor’s] teachings, they were always open to discussing and talking about it, which helped me accelerate my understanding,” he says.
You can read more about Tjan’s recent discussion at his alma mater here.
Best Places to Study an MBA Abroad
Considering an MBA program?
Why not forgo the brutal New England winters and head to tropical Singapore or arid Madrid instead? Or are you one of those loonies who prefers frigid temperatures? Well, then perhaps Toronto might be the best fit for you!
Here’s an overview of the best international (English-speaking) MBA programs Earth has to offer:
Carey Professor Wins Award For Best Academic Paper
“Instantaneously Hotter: The Dynamic Revision of Beauty Assessment Standards,” a research paper co-authored by Carey Business School Assistant Professor Haiyang Yang, was awarded the Franco Nicosia Best Competitive Paper Award by the Association for Consumer Research. Continue reading…
