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.
No GMAT? Check Out Some of Our Favorites Schools that Offer Waivers
Applying to MBA programs can be a labor intensive and overwhelming task, and one may wonder how necessary it is to add the GMAT to an already lengthy to-do list. It’s important to note that the GMAT helps admissions boards to efficiently gauge a student’s overall readiness for the MBA in comparison to other applicants, regardless of the rigor of their undergraduate work. Also, b-schools use the average GMAT of successful applicants in order to bolster their rankings in certain publications. Some programs do, however, accept GMAT waivers.
Here is a look at some top schools that do not require GMAT scores, along with a summary of their waiver requirements.
The Rutgers Business School offers MBA students to forego the GMAT or GRE if they have eight or more years of professional experience and an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher. Students with a Master’s degree and at least five years of full-time work experience may also apply without taking the GMAT.
La Salle University has several possibilities for students who have not taken the GMAT. Potential MBAs can obtain a waiver if they have graduated from an AACSB-accredited school with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2; a minimum GPA of 3.0; and three years of work experience. La Salle’s MBA program director evaluates each applicant’s work experience to determine whether the waiver may be granted.
Applicants with a CPA license or a CFA Charter may also apply without the GMAT, as may those with a Ph.D. or a Master’s degree or higher from an accredited institution. A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher is required for applicants with a Master’s degree.
LaSalle also has a ‘qualified admission’ option in which a student with two years’ work experience and a GPA of 3.0 or higher from an accredited school can waive the GMAT requirement. Qualified students may take up to four MBA courses, and with an overall GPA of 3.3, will not be required to take the GMAT. ‘Conditional Acceptance’ is also an option, in which a limited number of students are admitted for one semester, but then must take the test in order to remain enrolled and gain financial aid eligibility.
University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business and Economics gives waivers to MBA students if they possess a terminal degree (Ph.D., MD, or JD, for example) or if they have four or more years of professional experience at the full-time level. Other conditions under which a student may apply with no GMAT are a minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.8; a minimum grade of ‘B’ in two non-introductory level statistics or calculus courses; and an acceptable level of writing ability and English proficiency.
Lerner also grants exceptions to the GMAT requirement for undergraduates of the school who have fewer of four years of work experience and a GPA of 3.0 or higher, in addition to ‘B’ grades or better in 200 level statistics or math courses.
The Pace University Lubin School of Business MBA admissions board considers waivers of GMAT scores for students with a 3.2 GPA or above for all undergraduate coursework. For those applying to the one year fast track MBA in Financial Management or Marketing Management, applicants need a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or above and a B grade or better in all undergraduate business courses.
Babson College’s F.W. Olin College of Business offers GMAT waivers to all applicants to the Blended Learning MBA program, as students applying to this track are required to have extensive work experience. Additionally, those applying to Babson’s evening MBA do not have to submit GMAT scores in certain circumstances, such as a grade of ‘B’ or better in two or more quantitative undergrad and/or graduate courses or exhibited quantitative and analytic skills in a work setting.
Babson evening MBA applicants who have a professional certificate with a quantitative focus such as a CPA or CFA may also apply without taking the GMAT. Other instances in which evening MBAs may apply without the test are a 3.0 GPA or greater throughout their undergrad degrees, a prior degree from Babson, or completion of Babson’s Certificate in Advanced Management (CAM) program.
The GMAT requirement may also be waived at DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business if an applicant meets some specific criteria. With a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university along with five years of work experience, a student may petition for a waiver. Work experience must include both management and quantitative responsibilities.
Like other programs mentioned above, the GMAT may not be required if a student already has a PhD, JD or MD, or a Master’s degree in finance. An LSAT score of 160 or higher along with an undergraduate degree, or completion of all parts of the PE exam may also exempt an applicant from the GMAT requirement.
Students applying to the part-time MBA program who have attended DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business for their undergraduate work may receive a waiver with a minimum GPA of 3.2 and at least two years of work experience.
Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business allows students who have taken the CPA exam to request a waiver, and also those who have taken the first level of either the CFA or the FRM exams. Second semester seniors and undergraduate business students applying for an MBA may waive the GMAT with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or greater.
Students with work experience and certain GPA requirements may waive the GMAT; those who have worked for two years in a relevant position with an average grade point of 3.4 may request a waiver, as can those who have four years of work experience and a 3.3 GPA. With six years of work experience and at least a 3.2 GPA, an applicant may also waive the submission.
Law school graduates (from ABA approved schools), along with MSA, MSF, MSBA or MST from an AACSB approved institution are eligible for waivers. Sawyer allows MBA applicants who are in their second senior semester of undergraduate music management at Berklee College to request a GMAT waiver as well, provided the student maintains a 3.3 minimum GPA. Recent Berklee graduates may also request exemption from the GMAT requirement.
Golden Gate University’s Edward S. Ageno School of Business has several options for students who wish to apply without the GMAT. Those with a Master’s degree or higher from any accredited US institution may be exempt, along with any applicant with a 3.5 GPA or greater during undergraduate studies. Applicants with a CPA or other professional license may also petition for the waiver.
Any applicant with proven work experience of five years or more and/or management experience are eligible to waive the submission with approval from the Dean.
At UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, applicants with a CPA or CFA license are eligible for waivers, as are those with a Master’s or Ph.D. in a technical field. Kenan-Flagler does not list minimum GPA requirements for eligibility, and professional experience is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
It’s also important to note that Executive MBA programs typically offer GMAT waivers. However, applicants usually possess extensive management experience before enrolling.
Rutgers Launches Breakthrough Marketing Campaign for Executive Education
Rutgers Business School took a big stride toward the expansion of its Executive Education Program with a new marketing campaign, launched on Nov. 10, 2016.
With the “Breakthrough with Brilliance” initiative, Rutgers hopes to appeal to EMBAs and MBAs alike by showing how the program, widely known for its affordability, is also highly competitive in today’s rapidly changing management landscape.
