Where Toys R Us Went Wrong, Sawyer International Business Etiquette, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
Here’s What Sunk Toys R Us – MIT Sloan Newsroom
Experts from MIT Sloan offered a few choice insights into what Toys “R” Us, whose future currently remains in flux, could learn from the hiccups along its 70 year-long history.
Senior lecturer in work and organization studies Peter Kurzina writes that Toys “R” Us “ignored Amazon eating their lunch, thus failed to prepare and meet the challenge of competition.”
Associate professor of finance Andrey Malenko, a fellow MIT Sloan colleague, also critiqued the toy giant’s enormous debt burden. “If you’re running a business that might be sensitive to e-commerce, to the recession, then loading up on debt as much as [Toys “R” Us] did, it’s very risky and you probably shouldn’t do it.”
In March 2018, Toys “R” Us announced it would be closing all US and UK locations.
Read more of the duo’s analysis here.
International Business Basics – Sawyer Business Blog
The act of doing business across cultures often entails unexpected byproducts that Sawyer addressed in its recent “Business Protocol Across the Globe” forum, organized by Colombian native Laura Reales, BSBA ‘18.
“What if I wanted to move to another part of the world, like Saudi Arabia or France or China? How could I make connections with people so that I don’t look ignorant of their culture? So I decided to create a space where it was ok to talk about those differences.”
Read here to learn the answers to questions like, “What’s the proper way to present a business card in China?” and “What’s a good way to begin a negotiation in Turkey?”
Alumnus’ Company serves the Housing Needs of a Vulnerable Community – D’Amore-McKim Blog
The Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business profiled alum Andy Rosenthal, a 2007 alum who abandoned a lucrative career in hedge fund software to co-found the Terenbinth Group, which has become the “largest, family-owned provider of housing to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” Rosenthal explains his company’s model.
“We’re a real estate company focused on providing quality, safe, affordable housing to a vulnerable community,” Rosethal said in the interview. “In short, we find homes, fix them up, customize them to suit the tenants—think wheelchair accessibility, replacing door knobs with door levers, waterproof flooring, installing roll-in showers, etc.—and then rent them directly to the individuals.”
The company’s 68 homes currently accommodate more than 225 people across the state of Indiana and it’s looking to expand. You can learn more about the Terebinth Group’s plans here.
What are the Best Real Estate MBAs in Boston? – MetroMBA
Earlier this week we highlighted the three strongest Boston metro schools that can help you earn your way into the real estate industry: Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and the Babson College F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.
Regarding Babson, writer Jillan Markowitz writes:
“At Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, MBA students can pursue the finance concentration, which offers several courses in real estate. Students can rake courses like Real Estate Financial Modeling, Real Estate Fundamentals, or Real Estate Development. According to recent Olin graduate employment statistics, 10 percent of the 2017 MBA class landed jobs in real estate. This number may not seem overwhelming, but it dwarfs the percentage seen in many MBA programs (usually about two to three percent).”
Learn more about the best real estate programs in Boston here.
Columbia Explores Power In News, 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.
Which News Outlets Have the Most Power? – Columbia Newsroom
Columbia Business School recently published research surveyed from 18 different countries, which uncovers that “television news is by far the most dominant and influential news source and the number of news sources that people rely upon and trust has a direct correlation with their income levels.”
CBS professor of business Andrea Prat explains, “Countries around the world are experiencing information inequality, with a distinct subset of the population depending on just one or two sources for news. In turn, this makes a certain set of large news organizations particularly powerful.”
The research points out several different, important conclusions:
- “Television-based organizations are the most powerful commercial news organizations.“
- “News sources that cater to information-poor audiences have greater ‘media power.’”
- “News consumption appears to be highly unequal.”
- “There is no evidence that public service broadcasting reduces information inequality.”
You can read more from the report here.
Toys ‘R’ Us is Just the Latest Nostalgic Retailer to Die – CNN Money
“Another one bites the dust,” writes CNN Money journalist Danielle Wiener-Bronner, remarking the full-scale closure of the once-iconic toy distribution empire Toys ‘R’ Us. Wiener-Bronner notes that the closure comes around six month after the chain filed for bankruptcy in fall of 2017, struggling for years to compete with other distribution chains like Wal-Mart and Amazon.
A photo of the grand opening of the Toys ‘R’ Us store in Manhattan. The 70-year-old former retail giant will soon be liquidating all of its U.S. and UK locations. Photo via AP/Richard Drew
Tulin Erdem, chair of NYU Stern‘s Marketing Department, spoke with Wiener-Bronner about the news, noting that while nostalgia can be very powerful when it comes to marketing, it just isn’t enough sometimes.
“You can have a comeback with [nostalgia], but you can’t sustain it,” she said.
While Toys ‘R’ Us stores will be effectively shutting down in the U.S. and UK, and upwards of 30,000 employers will lose their positions, the closure will never erase the sheer joy of driving a 2-seater child rider car in a department store. You can read the rest of the CNN Money report here.
Zarb Introduces New Co-Op MBA Program – Hofstra University Zarb School of Business
The Hofstra University Zarb School of Business recently announced a completely new full-time two-year Co-Op MBA, which includes a six-month paid co-op experience opportunity at a leading regionally based corporation.
“Hofstra University’s Co-Op MBA program provides students with an integrated educational and professional work experience in their field of study, allowing them to expand their experience and responsibility,” the school noted in a recent press release. “With New York City’s business community only 25 miles away, you’ll also have access to many non-classroom learning experiences.”
The program requires the completion of 38 to 45 credits, with classes available full-time, both day and night. The co-hort size will be between 25 and 30 students, offering 12 separate concentrations, including: accounting, business analytics, finance, and more.
Click here to learn more about the school’s newest program.
