Each week we collect all the MBA news that’s fit to print and provide a quick overview of the latest trending topics from top business schools around the world.
Here’s your quick MBA News You Need digest for the week of August 22, 2018.
These Nine African Startups Are Working Toward a More Inclusive World
MIT Sloan recently announced the nine African startup finalists of the Initiative on the Digital Economy’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge, all of which use technology to “reinvent the future of work.”
Initiative Director Erik Brynjolfsson writes, “If we employ inclusive innovation globally, it could be the best thing that ever happened to humanity. We can have more wealth, better health, and widely held prosperity.”
Here are the nine finalists:
- Wefarm provides a “mobile network accessed through SMS, where millions of small-scale farmers can share information”
- PrepClass connects students and tutors
- Wesabi connects skilled laborers with employers looking to hire
- Lynk is an online platform doubling as a hiring service and showcase for artisans
- Brave Venture Labs provides talent sourcing software for growing companies
- Moringa School teaches software development and offers professional skills training
- Safi Organics provides small-scale farmers with affordable fertilizer for their crops
- Solar Freeze offers mobile cold-storage units for small farmers to help reduce crop spoilage
- AgroCenta is a digital platform for rural, small-scale farmers to connect with buyers and access financial services
The finalists, who will travel to Nairobi, Kenya, in late August to pitch their ideas at a regional competition, were selected from almost 200 entrepreneurs from 16 countries.
You can read more about the African startup contenders here. Reprinted from MetroMBA.
Collaborate, but Only Intermittently, Says New Study by Harvard Business School Professor and Colleagues
HBS has published new research in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Journal suggesting that always-on technologies like Slack, email, and social media are great for connecting us with peers but could make us less effective at complex problem solving than those that are “intermittently on.”
HBS’s Ethan Bernstein, along with BU Questrom’s Jesse Shore and Northeastern’s David Lazer, believe their research could have widespread implications on the workplace by including supporting a move toward “alternating independent efforts with group work over a period of time to get optimal benefits.”
Bernstein writes, “As we replace those sorts of intermittent cycles with always-on technologies, we might be diminishing our capacity to solve problems well.”
You can read more about the research here. Reprinted from MetroMBA.
Yale SOM Teams Up with Commonwealth Fund to Train Leaders in Minority Health
The Yale School of Management (SOM) announced the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Leadership, which promises to provide full funding for the 22-month MBA for Executives degree program to three healthcare practitioners each year.
The fellowship was launched in partnership with the Commonwealth Fund, an organization that has been working to improve healthcare and make it affordable and accessible for all Americans for the past century.
Under the guidance of Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Leadership Director Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and an associate professor of management, fellows will absorb “the leadership skills and the deep understanding of markets, organizations, and governments needed to tackle major inequities in the U.S. healthcare system.”
“This is a unique training opportunity for emerging and established leaders in minority health who are ready to broaden their impact and transform the health equity landscape,” Smith wrote.
Read the full article here.
Tuck Launches New Center for Entrepreneurship
Tuck unveiled its Center for Entrepreneurship this summer to accommodate overwhelming demand from student startups and entrepreneurs.
In a recent article on the Tuck blog, Executive Director Daniella Reichstetter, T’07, talked about what she thinks is driving the startup craze at Tuck:
“Tuck is uniquely positioned to support aspiring entrepreneurs—whether they want to found or join a startup—given our tight-knit community and focus on creating well-rounded leaders.”
Reichstetter also explained why Tuck students seem to be natural entrepreneurs:
“Teamwork and a commitment to the community are woven into the fabric of the Tuck experience. Most early-stage investors will tell you that they make investment decisions based more on the team than the business idea. Tuck is uniquely positioned to create world-class teams.”
Read the full article here.
Simon Rochester Receives STEM Designation for MBA
The MBA program at the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School recently received STEM designation, becoming the first U.S. program where a “STEM option is available for every specialization.”
Dean Andrew Ainslie writes, “Data analysis has been at the cornerstone of what Simon has been doing for decades, and we like to think this designation is recognition of a ‘job well done.'”
Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Rebekah Lewin adds, “The trend we are seeing from both domestic and international students is a desire for a STEM-focused program. Recruiters will like this because students are hired with a baseline of knowledge that impacts a company’s bottom line. Students like this because it helps them open additional doors for their careers.”
Read the full article here.
LBS Announces New Masters Program in Analytics
LBS’s new 12-month Masters in Analytics and Management (MAM) promises to equip recent graduates who want to “combine a detailed knowledge of data analytics with the ability to translate big data into bold visions and profit-maximizing business strategy.”
“There is huge demand from the top recruiters for managers who are not only data literate, but who also have the vision to see how big data can be used to create a real competitive edge or product or service transformation,” LBS Associate Professor of Management Science and Operations Tolga Tezcan said in a statement. “That’s why we’re combining subjects like machine learning and data visualization with organizational behavior.”
According to the press release, the MAM’s core curriculum will include courses in data analytics, applied statistics, data visualization and storytelling, data management, digital marketing, data science for business, and machine learning for big data and decision technology.
Read the full article here.
Michigan Ross to Offer New Part-Time Online MBA
Working professionals rejoice! The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business just announced its new part-time online MBA, which offers a “mix of learning opportunities to provide a holistic, thorough, and personalized business education experience.”
Associate Dean for the Part-Time MBA Program Wally Hopp writes, “We are dedicated to providing a broader base of working professionals with a high-quality Michigan Ross education, plus the flexibility, academic rigor, and support they need to succeed in business today and in the future. With the addition of the online MBA, Michigan Ross will continue to lead and define the future of business education.”
The program includes self-guided and live online class sessions; electives; and three in-person residencies at Ross that focus on “leadership, business transformation, and innovation.”
Read the full article here.
