What is Dell Looking for When it Comes to MBA Talent?
When considering jobs and internships, MBAs may reflect on the diverse set of skills and experience they’ve acquired. And few industries are witnessing a greater reflection of those diverse skills than tech.
Dell Technologies is one organization that has demonstrated a major commitment to hiring MBAs for their fresh knowledge and ideas, as evident in its 2020 ‘Legacy of Good’ Plan.
Curbing the Conspiracy Mindset at Northwestern, and More – Chicago News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Chicago business schools this week.
Conspiracy Theories Abound. Here’s How to Curb Their Allure – Kellogg Insight
Northwestern Kellogg Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations Cynthia Wang took a social psychological approach to understand what drives conspiratorial perceptions like Pizzagate, and “what are things that can be done by organizations that can prevent this mindset,” highlighted in a recent release from Kellogg Insight.
Wang co-authored a new paper with UCLA’s Jennifer Whitson, Penn State-Erie’s Joongseo Kim, Ohio State’s Tanya Menon, and Ball State’s Brian Webster, which finds that “individuals who exhibit a desire to take action in pursuit of their goals are less prone to conspiratorial thinking.”
The group began to focus on “regulatory focus theory (RFT), which looks at how people go about achieving their goals.” Kellogg Insight explains:
“RFT proposes two main strategies. People with a “promotion-focused” orientation aim to do everything in their power to achieve their hopes and dreams. In this mindset, individuals believe they can shape their future, suggesting that they feel a high degree of control over their environment. Those with a “prevention-focused” orientation, on the other hand, act diligently to protect the security they already have.
The researchers hypothesized that prevention-focused people might be more prone to believe conspiracy theories because conspiracies can feel like a threat to their security. The team suspected that people with a promotion focus, however, would be more skeptical.“
The team surveyed three groups of people, including military personnel and college students. Consistently, they found that people who were more “promotion” focused thought they had more agency in what happens to them, and therefore more control. In this frame of mind, those that felt they had more control were less susceptible to believe conspiracy theories.
You can read more about the group’s research here.
Yuxuan Tang is Ready for His 48 Hours of Fame – Gies School of Business Blog
Gies College of Business senior Yuxuan Tang was one of four University of Illinois students drawn from the Illinois MakerLab and selected to compete in Season 3 of the PBS show Make 48, a “televised national invention competition that gives teams 48 hours to come up with an idea, create a prototype, and present their idea to a panel of judges.”
Tang writes, “It’s an honor. The competition is like a sped-up creation process. Being able to make the model is important, but the rest of the team should diversify. You need some people to see ‘How’s the market? What do customers think of this service?’ That’s what business people do.”
You can read more about Tang’s work here.
Graduate Students Tackle Issue of Clean Water in Haiti – Quinlan School of Business Blog
Loyola’s Masters of Social Justice student Josh Goralski spoke with the Quinlan School of Business Blog about his social enterprise, which “focuses on building water filtration businesses [in Haiti] funded through micro-financing.”
This idea is an extension of a business idea he and his undergraduate classmates at Rockhurst University developed to address the 5,700 Haitians water-related diseases claim each year. According to the article, “52.4 percent of Haiti’s rural population does not have access to clean water.”
Loyola student Josh Goralski, pictured in Haiti / Photo via luc.edu
“Water filters would be sold by local community members. The sellers would be trained and certified to micro-finance the filters affordably for their community members.” According to the article, the ceramic water filter that the Haitian water enterprises sell can “provide clean water for a family of five for up to 10 years with little maintenance, and save families $400+ USD over 10 years.”
Goralski writes that his goal is to “empower communities. We wondered, how do we work with a local community partner, provide access to business education training, and empower these communities?”
You can can read more about Goralski’s work here.
Northwestern Research Finds Secret to Hot Streaks, and More – Chicago News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Chicago business schools this week.
When You’re Hot, You’re Hot: Career Successes Come in Clusters – Kellogg Insights
In a new Nature paper, Northwestern Kellogg Associate Professor of Management and Organizations Dashun Wang and his co-horts reviewed the “career histories of thousands of scientists, artists, and film directors [and] found evidence that ‘hot-streak’ periods,” in which professionals seem to stumble upon major discoveries, “are both real and ubiquitous, with virtually everyone experiencing one at some point in their career.”
Wang, along with visiting student Lu Liu, Kellogg post-doctoral student Yang Wang, the University of Miami’s Chaoming Song, Central European University’s Roberta Sinatra, and Penn State’s Lee Giles, discovered that their findings “shed important new light on the patterns underlying success in all fields, and could be used to improve decisions about tenure, promotions, and hiring.”
You can read more about the group’s research here.
From Croatia’s World Cup Run to the Marketing Classroom – Quinlan School of Business Blog
Loyola Quinlan Clinical Professor of Marketing Katherine Sredl, who happens to be Croatian, heralded the “indescribable joy and pride” Croatians worldwide felt for the World Cup’s second-best team, due in large part to “the country’s small size and the strength of our competition.”
Professor Sredl explains that the pride she and her fellow Croatians feel for their country motivates her to “tell the stories of the people of the region, from the most to the least powerful and those in-between, women who worked in factories and are now unemployed, men who fought in the war and are now working to sustain peace.”
She adds that she hopes to serve the Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian students at Quinlan “by showing them that they can take that “Indescribable” feeling they might have—be it about the place they love or anything else — and reflect on how they can use it to “Go forth and set the world on fire,” as St. Ignatius inspired us and as we say at Loyola.”
Notre Dame IDEA Center Launches 27 Startups in First Year of Operation – Mendoza Ideas & News
The University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business announced that between July 2017 and June 2018, its IDEA Center launched 27 startups, 11 of which directly involve Mendoza students or alum.
The startups run the gamut industries, from health care to information technology, law, and media. The startups collectively “raised more than $4 million in investments or grants, created 83 new jobs, launched 23 products, and generated more than $500,000 in sales.”
The IDEA Center’s mission is to “build an ecosystem of high-potential startups in the South Bend-Elkhart region that grow rapidly and then attract venture capital, entrepreneurs and an increasing number of startups that create more jobs, all in a virtuous cycle of economic development.” Bryan Ritchie, Associate Provost and Vice President for Innovation, elaborates:
“The success of the IDEA Center’s strategy indicates that a strong focus on startups in the South Bend-Elkhart region will lead to the potential for significant economic growth, such as that seen in other technological hub cities in the country. In time, we believe this region will retain and attract even more of tomorrow’s brightest, most innovative minds.”
You can check out more about the IDEA Center here.
Supply Chains, Rankings Changes, and More – Philly News
We know it’s hard to keep up with the news while you’re enjoying your summer, so we put all the latest Philly MBA news in one place just for you!
How UD MBA Grad Lisa Weaver Saved DuPont $8 Million and Counting — UDaily
Lisa Weaver, an MBA graduate from the Delaware University Lerner College of Business and Economics, was recently named to the Institute for Supply Management’s 30 Under 30 Supply Chain Stars list. As category manager for DuPont’s sourcing and logistics department, Weaver led initiatives resulting in more than $8 million in savings.
In a recent Q&A with her alma mater, Weaver explained how her experiences at UD influenced her career in supply chain management.
“Lerner resources like the Career Services Center allowed me to find the right jobs for me at the time,” she said, adding:
“Additional programs like the Graduate Executive Mentors program allowed me to expand my network and develop a relationship with a mentor. My mentor has challenged my thinking, increased my confidence and provided alternative perspectives. Each of these experiences through Lerner have influenced my career in a different way and provided additional capabilities to be successful.”
You can read more about Weaver’s impact at DuPont and her Lerner experience here.
Faculty Quality, Other Factors Propel Penn State Smeal Executive MBA — Smeal News
The Executive MBA Program at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business was ranked as the 26th overall and 7th among programs from public institutions in The Economist’s 2018 recent list of top global EMBAs.
“What makes the Smeal Executive MBA Program truly unique and led to a successful debut in today’s rankings is our unmatched combination of faculty quality and the unique access our students have to those amazing resources,” said Managing Director Jason Stieg. “The program delivers every course in a face-to-face environment using the same renowned faculty who teach in Smeal’s full-time residential MBA program at University Park.”
Smeal’s EMBA in Philadelphia is one of the top ten public programs in the world, according to The Economist.
The Philadelphia-based Executive MBA takes place over 17 months, and is the highest-ranked Philadelphia-area program. You can learn more about the program here.
Saint Joseph’s Offers Exclusive Healthcare MBA Program for American Osteopathic Association — SJU News
According to a recent press release, Saint Joseph’s Haub School of Business has announced a healthcare-focused Executive MBA program designed exclusively for the American Osteopathic Association’s physician members.
“An executive MBA in health care expands doctors’ knowledge of industry challenges and solutions and allows them to prepare for their next steps—career shifts into administration, consultancy, or running a private practice,” said Joseph A. DiAngelo, dean of the Haub School. “We are proud to equip healthcare leaders with such valuable skills.”
The program offers participants an online, two-year MBA while also simultaneously completing medical education credits. To learn more about the executive MBA in health care program, or to learn how to apply, click here.
Temple Fox Business Dean Moshe Porat Resigns – MetroMBA
Months after Temple University’s Fox School of Business was removed from the U.S. News & World Report rankings earlier this year, Moshe Porat—the long-time dean of the business school—was officially asked to resign while the internal structure of the school goes into rebuild-mode.
No news has been released as of yet of Porat’s replacement, or which methods Fox will offer to change in the future when it comes to school rankings. You can read more about his resignation here.
Best MBA Internship Opportunities in the Northeast
There’s no doubt that summer internships play a critical role in an MBA student’s education and career. Not only do internships provide students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the workforce, but they’re also known for helping students develop professional connections and earn top-tier salaries.
But not all internships are made equal, especially for talented business school prospects. For example, working at Apple would likely have a very different effect on an MBA’s resume than working for a small, unknown startup company down the street. And if you’re looking at the top cities across the U.S. where companies actively recruit talent, you can’t go wrong with Boston, New York City, or Philadelphia for your location. But which is the best?
In this article, we highlight the top internship destinations in each city along with the top two schools in each area that will get you where you want. Continue reading…
Drexel Culinary Collaborations and First Place Finishes — Philly News
With so much news happening in Philly business schools, it’s understandable if you need a hand catching up. Here’s your Philly news brief.
Drexel EMBA Class Spurs Culinary Collaboration — LeBow News
Thanks to his Drexel LeBow College of Business EMBA class, chef and restaurateur Kevin Sbraga has found a way back into the kitchen. Sbraga, a chef with prior business experience in the Philadelphia area, came up with the idea for a one-day pop-up kitchen in a Business Problem Solving class taught by associate clinical professor of management Suresh Chandran.
According to a news story on the Drexel website:
“We were talking about innovation as a disrupter, and that made me start to think about how the real estate landscape is changing for retail as well as restaurants,” Sbraga says. “I reached out to a hospitality buddy of mine who has some experience in the tech field. I asked him, ‘How can we create a virtual restaurant? A restaurant experience without the brick and mortar,’ and his response was ‘delivery’.”
Sbraga was one of the first restaurateurs in the city to adopt the now-popular food delivery app Caviar, helping deliver the first batches of Nashville hot chicken to Philly for a special one-day event. “The Hot Chicken was far and away the best-selling dish from The Fat Ham’s menu on Caviar. It was widely regarded as some of the best hot chicken outside of Nashville, so featuring it was an easy choice,” a Caviar spokesperson said.
LeBow EMBA grad and chef Kevin Sbraga was one of the first in the city of Philadelphia to help introduce the now-popular food delivery app Caviar.
You can read more about Sbraga’s food and pop-up concept here.
Penn State Smeal MBAs place first in Fisher Invitational Big Ten+ MBA Case Competition — Penn State Smeal News
Four Penn State Smeal MBAs recently took first place in the Fisher Invitational Big Ten+ MBA Case Competition at Ohio State. The team of first-year students were coached by Nancy Mahon, clinical associate professor of business communication.
Teams had 24 hours to develop a comprehensive pitch outlining concrete recommendations to address the challenges facing Bob Evans restaurant chain. Competition judges included key Bob Evans senior leadership as well as executives from other corporations. The Smeal squad defeated teams from Illinois and Wisconsin in first round before beating second-place Purdue and third-place Michigan State in the finals.
“I’m extremely impressed with our team’s efforts and professionalism,” Mahon said. “I’m especially proud of our students’ representation of Smeal.”
You can read more about the recent Penn State Smeal event here.
Is It Possible to Change Bad Behavior – Permanently? – Knowledge@Wharton
The recently-created Behavior Change for Good Initiative course at The Wharton School, taught by celebrated UPenn professor Angela Duckworth and Wharton’s own Katherine Milkman, looks at the quality of daily living in a broad and curious way.
In the most recent Knowledge@Wharton podcast episode, the two discuss the program’s vast social experiment angles, asking how people can change bad or not-well-liked behavior on a permanent scale. This includes the launch of the StepUp program with fitness chain 24 Hour Fitness. “Duckworth and Milkman are hoping to recruit hundreds of thousands of current and new members of the chain to sign up for the program,” they explain “Those who do will become part of a large-scale tournament in which scientists have developed 57 different paths they hope will lead to positive behavior change.”
“We want to see which ideas truly yield the biggest changes in behavior, not just during the course of the program, which is 28 days, but also in the year following it.”
You can check out the most recent podcast episode here.
