What They’re Saying: Spring Break is Sadly Almost Over
While the East Coast of the U.S. is catching up with another pleasant April storm cyclone, the rest of the business school community is back at work, shedding off the sunburned skin of a spring break well had. With the end of the formal academic year drawing near, students are preparing for the home stretch.
Check out some of the things business schools around the U.S., Canada, and UK are saying about the end of spring break and what you need to know before the academic year closes out.
Spring Break is almost over. It’s time to start thinking about Summer! Register tpdayfor @BaruchCollege #summersession courses & finish your degree early! #BaruchSummer18 #BeBaruch #academicexcellence pic.twitter.com/UJWNEyy7kU
— Baruch College (@BaruchCollege) April 4, 2018
Snowy spring break! #LeBow MBA & MS students are in Romania meeting industry leaders, including @fitbit. Check our Instagram story for live updates. pic.twitter.com/anS73QiRQl
— LeBow College (@LeBow) March 26, 2018
It’s OFFICIALLY spring break! Our MBAs will be in China, Colombia, and Brazil getting a hands on #GlobalBusiness experience 🗺💼✈ pic.twitter.com/BDaPceTOCa
— Johnson at Cornell (@CornellMBA) March 31, 2018
From climbing volcanoes to discovering secrets of luxury marketing, spring break for some Questrom students was about enhancing their business acumen through cultural immersion. https://t.co/lA6oQsdOCB
— BU Questrom (@BUQuestrom) March 29, 2018
It’s extra quiet at the #RadySchool during Spring Break! We miss our students, but hope you are enjoying your break! pic.twitter.com/Kk2LaYMLk2
— Rady School (@RadySchool) March 28, 2018
How a Rutgers Part-Time MBA Led to a Dream Job, 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.
Part-Time MBA Proves to be a Steppingstone to Dream Job – Rutgers Business School
From running phone sales in Manhattan, to working her way up the corporate business to business ladder, Allegra Kipnis, a part-time MBA candidate from the Rutgers Business School in New Brunswick, found her “dream job.”
In a recent profile with the school, Kipnis divulged that earning her MBA helped her earn multiple promotions with Verizon. But, even after being let go, she (with the help of the Rutgers community) helped her refine her career path on the way to a dream role with Panasonic as an internal communications specialist.
“The MBA program gave me the tools I needed to eventually land my dream job, but funny enough, after all I had learned, it turned out to be just one more step in the story of my career,” she said in the interview.
Kipnis, a part-time MBA candidate at Rutgers / photo via Rutgers.edu
You can more about Kipnis’ career path and the Rutgers Business School part-time MBA program here.
A Combination of Personality Traits Might Make You More Addicted to Social Networks – Binghamton School of Management
The Binghamton University School of Management recently published new research, “Personality Predictors of IT Addiction,” in which assistant professor of management information systems Isaac Vaghefi, along with DePaul’s Hamed Qahri-Saremi, examined which collection of personality traits often leads to social networking addiction among 300 college-aged students: neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Vaghefi writes:
“It’s more of a holistic approach to discover what kind of people are more likely to develop an addiction. Rather than just focusing on one personality trait, this allows you to look at an all-inclusive personality profile.”
Read more about the duo’s research here.
Admissions Bridge Connects Diverse Undergraduates to MBA Possibilities – Johnson School of Management Feed
The SC Johnson School of Management blog recently published an overview of the school’s second annual Johnson Admissions Bridge—an event that encourages “undergraduate women and students from underrepresented backgrounds at Cornell to consider business school and discover ways to begin preparing now.”
The Bridge is “part of a larger initiative to ensure a diverse population is offered the opportunity to attend business school.” Judi Byers, executive director of admissions and financial aid at Johnson, explains:
“At Johnson, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to contribute to the pipeline of diverse talent ultimately seeking entry into top business schools and the companies and organizations they will lead afterward. The Bridge is a way to connect with our undergraduate students here at Cornell and gives us the chance to talk with them about potential career paths and how an MBA might offer value to their short and long term career goals.”
Learn more about the Cornell Bridge here.
What They’re Saying: Business Schools Talk About Cambridge Analytica
Less than a week after Christopher Wylie, the whistle-blower in the ongoing Cambridge Analytica controversy, helped reveal the “dirty tricks” the data mining firm used to help swing elections in North America, Europe, and Africa—including the 2016 U.S. general election—business schools are reacting to the dynamic story.
In short, UK television outlet Channel 4 News filmed several Cambridge Analytica members in an undercover operation, in which they revealed numerous strategies, including: soliciting fake bribes, hiring prostitutes to seduce potential candidates in elections, and more. Company chief executive Alexander Nix was also filmed in the video, which you can watch here, boasted the company’s outreach methods on social media, saying: “It sounds a dreadful thing to say, but these are things that don’t necessarily need to be true as long as they’re believed.”
Another member of the Cambridge Analytica team also argued that they constructed President Donald Trump’s popular “crooked Hillary” campaign slogan from 2016.
Further, the controversy revealed how the company pilfered upwards of “50 million” Facebook profiles, most of which came without consent. Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg played silent on the ongoing story up until March 21, plainly saying in a CNN interview “I’m really sorry that this happened.”
“Aleksandr Kogan, the data scientist who passed along data to SCL Group and its affiliate Cambridge Analytica, built a Facebook app that drew data from users and their friends in 2013. He was allowed access to a broad range of data at the time.
Though Kogan’s data was properly obtained, he breached Facebook’s policy when he shared that information with a third party, Facebook has said. When Facebook learned about the information being shared, it asked Cambridge Analytica to destroy the data. Cambridge said it had.”
Wylie notes that Cambridge Analytica probably never destroyed that data, inevitably leading towards the company’s involvement in the 2016 election. Several of the nation’s most prominent business schools talked about the story on Twitter, which you can read below.
André Spicer, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, on Cambridge Analytica and the possibility of tech companies being forced to expand regulations on privacy and social responsibility.
Read André’s comments: https://t.co/O5IAlUTD5t#cambridgeanalytica#cassbusinessschoolpic.twitter.com/GWv95RUIMc
— Cass Business School (@cassbusiness) March 21, 2018
“The really big issue is if regulators start questioning the business model of tech firms. Currently, consumers give away their data in exchange for free services, but what if regulators start putting a price on people’s data?” –
Cass Business Professor André Spicer
Q&A with @cyberlawclinic‘s @vivekdotca about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, U.S. privacy protections, and the regulation of the tech industry https://t.co/LPKwwSKSXw
— Harvard University (@Harvard) March 22, 2018
The head of the European Parliament announced on Monday that the EU will investigate whether the data of more than 50 million Facebook users were misused when it was accessed by Cambridge Analytica! https://t.co/q946Hed417
— FOX MBA & MS (@FoxMBA) March 22, 2018
Cambridge Analytica said it’s suspending its CEO immediately and is launching an independent investigation into allegations it misused data on millions of Facebook users. https://t.co/EKeXiuHeQF
— MIT Tech Review (@techreview) March 21, 2018
Boston News: Northeastern Explores Trump Tweets, MIT Offers FinTech Advice and More
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston metro business schools this week.
Can A Trump Tweet Dramatically Sway A Company’s Value? – Northeastern’s D’Amore-McKim Blog
Will Clark, DMSB ’17, along with Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business finance professors David Myers and Jeffery Born, sought to understand the impact that President Trump’s tweets—which often directly address publicly traded companies like Ford, Toyota, Walmart, GM, and Boeing—had on their stock market value.
“Past presidents communicated through the media. This was the first time that a president was communicating directly with the public—with investors—about companies. We really weren’t sure what to expect from the data,” says Clark, who is now a credit analyst with Morgan Stanley.
The trio’s research found that Trump’s tweets, in fact, did have some impact on companies, often increasing trade volume within the first few hours and days after he references them on the social media platform. The research was revealed in the academic journal Algorithmic Finance.
“The team found that Trump’s tweets dramatically increased trading volume for the companies’ stocks in the first few days following a tweet. They also found that positive (or negative) tweets about companies increased (or decreased) the firms’ stock prices by a modest amount—just 1 percent. But the changes were only temporary: Within a few days, the firms’ trading volumes and stock prices returned to pre-tweet levels.”
The lasting effect, however, was found to be longing. The trio notes that the most active traders, which they refer to as “noise traders,” were very reactive to Trump’s words, with trading tapering off after only a few days.
“They’re regular people and under-informed investors who want to get in and out and make a buck without thinking too long and hard about it,” Born notes about the financial impact of Trump tweets.
You can read more about the financial research on the Trump tweets from D’Amore-McKim here.
3 Lessons To Keep In Mind When Starting A FinTech Venture – MIT Sloan Newsroom
MIT Sloan School of Management MBA alum Sophia Lin, ’12, and her partner Andrew Kelley of the FinTech startup Keel, which connects “rookie investors with more seasoned ones,” shares some hard-won lessons in an op-ed for the Sloan blog. First of all: beware of hidden costs specific to FinTech. “
“Starting costs are higher than other industries because of data, infrastructure, and security requirements,” Lin said. “Data is expensive, which stops a lot of early stage startups from entering this field. But you need data to build your product.”
Read all of Lin’s words of wisdom here.
More CEOs Have Begun To Take Social Responsibility Seriously – HBR
CEOs from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to Blackrock’s Larry Fink have begun to take very public stands to address the long-term impacts their products have had and continue to have on communities and the environment.
“We are witnessing a big, transitional moment—akin to the transition from analog to digital, or the realization that globalization is a really big deal. Companies are beginning to realize that paying attention to the longer term, to the perceptions of their company, and to the social consequences of their products is good business.”
Harvard Business School John and Natty McArthur University Professor Rebecca M. Henderson also explains that there are distinct differences between the size of a company, which often contrasts with the social goals of the company. The larger the company, the more long-term the outlook, she explains. Unlike small companies, larger firms worry about quarter-to-quarter results less.
“Big firms can also internalize certain externalities. An externality is a cost from a transaction that doesn’t fall on the buyer or the seller. If I pollute the air to make a product I sell to you, the cost of that pollution is spread out across society, and isn’t incorporated in the price I charge you for the product. Externalities pose problems for markets, since neither buyer nor seller have any incentive to deal with the costs. But sometimes, for really large firms, things work differently.”
The unfortunate causality, she notes, is that we are often reliant on the largest companies to take the initiative for causes that may be considered part of the global good. If some companies among the Fortune 500 elect to, say, go carbon neutral within the next decade, that can have a profound impact on other competing companies. And if those initiatives are not as profitable, there is an even greater risk of other companies being reluctant to attempt similar efforts.
Read more about the growing CSR trend among CEOs here.
Our Favorite MBA Recruiters: Facebook
These days, it seems like everyone and their mother is on Facebook—no, really, your mom sent me a friend request last week. Your family vacation looked like a blast! As more and more people subscribe to the undisputed king of social media, Facebook seems to hire more and more MBAs to continue to move the company forward into the future. Continue reading…
What Georgetown McDonough MBA Students Learn Outside the Classroom
What do Colin Powell, an Indiana dairy farm, the DC Department of Public Works, and a triathalon have in common? They are all part of the fabric that comprises life outside of the classroom for MBA students at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Sure, it makes sense to judge a business school on what takes place inside the classroom. But in skimming three seemingly unrelated recent news briefs from the school, we realized that taken together they help paint a picture of what life outside the classroom can look like.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell Speaks
In September, the former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell visited Georgetown McDonough to speak on the subject of leadership. He discussed his former military and government experience, as well as a turning point in his career: earning his MBA. The event was part of the Stanton Distinguished Leaders Series and was hosted by the McDonough Military Association, an MBA student club for military veterans.
Faculty, staff, alumni, and students were all invited to observe the conversation, which began with Powell touching on his MBA education. He shared with attendees about how his MBA—which he earned from George Washington University in 1971—enabled him to focus “on the more human elements of leadership,” explained the McDonough press release. He also talked about how he improved his management and leadership skills by gaining a better understanding of basic human psychology.
Powell then went on to speak about his career. He shared his experience of being pulled in a variety of different directions, including public service positions, telling audience members: “You serve where you are needed. This is what service is all about.”
Then, he went on to highlight what he views as essential components of effective leadership, namely helping others, stressing the human element of an organization, and building trust. He explained that he never tried to be an authority but to influence others, stating “leadership and followership are completely enmeshed.”
Finally, he touched on the importance of diversity. “We are a vibrant economy because of immigration,” he said. “We shouldn’t demonize anyone.” He talked about how diversity is important for leadership and for building a stronger America. The event ended with questions from audience members and drew praise from many in attendance.
As Prashant Malaviya, an Associate Professor of Marketing at McDonough, said on Twitter: “Honor and privilege to welcome Colin Powel to Georgetown McDonough. Amazing talk! Thank you!”
Hands-On Experience
Outside of learning from presentations and speakers, MBA students at McDonough also learn through hands-on opportunities such as a recent visit to Fair Oaks Farms, a sustainable dairy farm in Indiana, as well as a summer internship with the DC Department of Public Works (DPW).
The farm visit, which included 18 MBA students, was part of the course “Principled Leadership in Business and Society” taught by Associate Professor Ed Soule.
The trip was designed to help students learn more about sustainable business by seeing it in practice. Fair Oaks Farm is the sixth largest dairy cooperative in the nation and an agri-tourism destination owned by Sue and Mike McCloskey. While visiting, MBA students were able to see how the farm employed various practices and technologies to minimize its environmental footprint while maximizing the comfort level of the cows.
“It’s one thing to read a case about a sustainable business, but seeing it and meeting the people adds another dimension,” Soule said in a news release about the trip. “The other objective of the trip was for them to interface casually with the McCloskeys, to pose questions, and get a more nuanced understanding of the business.”
Second-year MBA student Emma Loughman called the farm an “epicenter of innovation” and said she enjoyed learning about the difference between organic and sustainable farming.
As for the internship with the DC DPW, two students—Paul LaCorte (MBA ’18) and Leo Dzidziguri (MBA ’18)—participated in the trial program between the department and Georgetown McDonough. Over the course of the hands-on, three-month experience, the students responded to a request by the city administrator to evaluate two critical areas: light vehicle repair turnaround and citywide compliance and preventative maintenance.
The internship required data collection, analysis, visualization, process mapping, site visits, and audits. “We were involved in projects that required knowledge from multiple fields,” Dzidziguri said in a news release. “For example, I performed statistical analysis on several years of data to identify reasons why the Fleet Management division could not meet its key performance indicators, while at the same time studying the operations and recommending a new map for more efficient processes.”
Extracurricular Fun and Fitness
Finally, no MBA program is complete without a bit of friendly competition. Early in September, three Georgetown MBA students participated in the 12th Annual Nation’s Triathlon. Hall Wang (MBA ’19), Taylor DeVoe (Evening MBA ’20), and James Hesburgh (MBA ’19) signed up for a 1,500-meter swim, 26.2-mile bike ride, and 10k run relay—respectively. This was an opportunity for the MBA students to meet outside the classroom and campus to explore their common interests.
In a short news brief on the school website, Wang described the triathlon as a relationship-building experience. “I like to think we showed what the Georgetown MBA experience is all about,” he said. “Regardless of cohort or program, we build relationships and partake in our community, one fun adventure at a time. Ours just started with a really early alarm clock and ended with some sore body parts, but now we have an exciting story to tell.”
