General
News items that we think are relevant and potentially of interest to MBA applicants and anyone interested in business school.
Published: October 12, 2016
Stanford GSB to Open State-of-the-Art Highland Hall for First-Year Students
Arching in the skyline of Serra Street overlooking the Knight Management Center complex, students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) will be hard-pressed to miss the soon-to-be-completed Highland Hall. With its stark purple finish shimmering brightly in the California sun, the state-of-the-art building is a striking, modern accent to the campus. However, the most striking feature about it may not be the captivating exterior but rather its intended use: as a residency for first-year MBA students. Units have private entrances and baths, as well as a shared kitchen. Photo credit: Elena Zhukova The $75 million project is
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Published: October 11, 2016
MIT Sloan, Harvard Professors Share Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
For more than 40 years, MIT Sloan Economist Bengt Holmström has laid a foundation of formative work in contract theory. Now, finally, his work on the subject—along with that of Harvard Professor Oliver Hart—has been recognized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, earning the pair a Nobel Prize.
Holmström, 67, is the fifth to win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences while serving as a member of the MIT faculty, joining Paul A. Samuelson (1970), Franco Modigliani (1985), Robert M. Solow (1987) and Peter Diamond (2010). Holmström joined the MIT faculty in 1994.
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Published: October 11, 2016
MBA Admissions Mashup: Round 1 Next Steps
Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from MBA admissions blogs at the top business schools. MBA applicants around the world have hit submit on their Round 1 applications or are planning ahead for Round 2. Several of you have already heard back from the likes of HBS, Chicago Booth, LBS, Yale, and more. This week we’re devoting the mashup to those of you that are anxiously waiting on some news — may it be good or bad (because closure). In a week and a half
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Published: October 9, 2016
Harvard Life Lab to Open on Allston Innovation Corridor in November
Building on the successes of the Harvard Innovation Lab (i-Lab), established in 2011, and the Harvard Launch Lab, a start-up incubator that welcomed its first ventures in 2014, Harvard University will add another facility to the growing innovation corridor along Allston's Western Avenue with the forthcoming Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab, scheduled to open next month.
The new facility will provide a space for students, faculty, alumni and postdoctoral scholars from schools across the university, including Harvard Business School (HBS), to incubate high-potential startups in biotech and future-minded life sciences. It will also provide the necessary equipment needed for these often costly science-focused startups to scale.
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Published: October 5, 2016
Wharton Students Gather for “Judgement Free” Discussion on Race
A week after Wharton students gathered in the wake of police shootings of Terence Crutcher and Keith Scott in Oklahoma City and Charlotte, it felt like the time for an open discussion on race open to the entire MBA community had arrived. Students joined together for an event organized by the Return on Equality (ROE) student coalition and the Wharton African American MBA Association (AAMBAA) in Wharton’s Huntsman Hall for two hours last Thursday. As part of a “judgment free” open discussion, they together
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Published: October 4, 2016
Haas Professor and “Power Poses” Co-Author Backtracks from Own Study
Six years ago, researchers at Columbia and Harvard quickly gained recognition in the psychological science community with research they published suggesting that power poses—particular body stances and positioning held for limited periods of time—could lend themselves to increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk.
The 2010 report, “Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance,” was co-authored by Dana Carney and Andy Yap, then at Columbia, and Amy Cuddy (pictured above, right) at Harvard Business School. The three wrote, “results of this study confirmed our prediction that posing in high-power nonverbal displays (as opposed to low-power nonverbal displays) would cause neuroendocrine and behavioral changes for both male and female participants: High-power posers experienced elevations in testosterone, decreases in cortisol, and increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk; low-power posers exhibited the opposite pattern.”
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Published: October 3, 2016
Tuck’s New Mission Statement Looks Toward Future
“Wisdom encompasses the essential aptitudes of confident humility,” reads the introduction to the new mission statement for Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, defining a new vision for the future of the New Hampshire business school.
Speaking to the Tuck community, Dean Matthew J. Slaughter broke down the school’s newly refined outlook into a concise ten-word statement: “Tuck educates wise leaders to better the world of business.”
“It has been an invigorating and affirming process,” Slaughter said in a letter released last week, “the results of which I am excited to share with you today."
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Published: October 3, 2016
Columbia Business School Launches Inaugural Re-Orientation Program
While seldom the most important step in a student’s career, the value of orientation is nonetheless immeasurable for many. Often it creates a unique bond between the students and their new surroundings at an impossibly vital point during formative years. But after it’s over, it's over, right?
Not so fast, says Columbia Business School (CBS). Questioning why that special cohesion-building process should be reserved just for first-students, the school late last month held its first-ever orientation for second-year business students. Dubbed the “Re-Orientation,” it was led by the Columbia Leadership Lab.
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Published: October 2, 2016
Kellogg Receives $10 Million from Former Motorola CEO
With the completion of the state-of-the-art Global Hub, the brand new epicenter of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, slated for the very near future, the Evanston business school received even more good news in the form of a $10.25-million donation from the Christopher B. Galvin Family Foundation.
The foundation is run by former Motorola CEO Chris Galvin and his wife, Cynthia. With the donation, the first-floor design wing and conference center of the Global Hub will be named in their honor.
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Published: September 29, 2016
Kellogg’s Global Hub Enters Final Phases of Construction
Before the end of 2016, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University won’t just be culminating another successful year, it’ll be celebrating the opening of its immense new Global Hub.
The approximately 410,000-square-foot center, located on the edge of Lake Michigan in Chicago, will serve as Kellogg's new modern epicenter. Included in the enormous 103-foot complex designed by Toronto-based architecture firm KPMB Architects will be advanced, green-friendly classrooms, a 1,400-square-foot student lounge, an auditorium and a picturesque 2,000-square-foot terrace overlooking Lake Michigan.
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Published: September 27, 2016
Students, Faculty Stand in Unity at Ross Black Lives Matter Gathering
In silence, students, staff and faculty at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School Of Business spoke volumes. Standing together on the afternoon of Monday, September 26th, dressed in all black, the group unified behind signs of Black Lives Matter and #Ross4Change, sending a powerful, cohesive message. The moment was organized by the Black Business Student Association and the Student Government Association at Ross, which is also helping put together a Kickstarter campaign championing diversity. Perhaps most poignant were signs with hard, honest data about the number of
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Published: September 19, 2016
HBS U.S. Competitiveness Project Report: Political Divide Holding Economy Back
With the divisive national election launching an onslaught of emotionally-charged headlines against the backdrop of a continually bearish national economy, it may not be surprising to hear that some of Harvard Business School’s top minds are worried.
As part of the 2016 U.S. Competitiveness Project report, "Problems Unsolved and a Nation Divided," HBS Professors Michael E. Porter, Jan W. Rivkin and Mihir A. Desai, together with Program Director and Senior Researcher Manjari Raman, reveal their findings that the very vocal and public dysfunction of the political system is the key factor holding the U.S. economy back. The report contains five years of in-depth analysis of the country’s economic competitiveness with other global developing economies based on surveys of HBS alumni and the general public. It also offers what the researchers believe is the most prudent approach to solving the issue.
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Published: September 18, 2016
NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business Makes Notable Progress in Just Six Months
Last February, New York University’s Stern School of Business launched the Center for Sustainable Business, aided by a $1 million investment from the Citi Foundation. And in just a few short months, the center has steadily made notable progress.
Since launching, the center also assembled its corporate advisory board, recruited a host of industry research scholars, hosted Unilever CEO Paul Polman on its campus and published the “How Corporate America Can Support the Paris Climate Deal” op-ed in Fortune on Earth Day, April 22, 2016. Each important move reflects the center’s overall theme of “A Better World through Better Business.”
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Published: September 15, 2016
Chicago’s McGowan Charitable Fund Announces 7th Class of Fellows
Since 2010, the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund has been naming 10 outstanding second-year MBA students as members of its annual class of McGowan Fellows. The fund was created and named in honor of William G. McGowan, an American business leader and founder of MCI Communications, following his passing in 1992.
The selected fellows join a prestigious group of alumni from some of the best business schools around the United States. One fellow is chosen annually from each of 10 partner business schools. Each receives full tuition for the second year of his or her MBA studies.
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Published: September 14, 2016
University of Chicago Booth School of Business Names Interim Dean
Accounting professor Douglas J. Skinner has been named interim dean for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the school announced quietly earlier this summer. University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer praised Skinner in his new role, saying, “Doug’s appointment will help sustain the momentum that has been built to further establish Chicago Booth as one of the world’s preeminent business schools while the search for the next dean is conducted.” Chicago Booth Interim Dean Douglas Skinner Chicago Booth Interim Dean Skinner came to Booth in 2005 from the
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Published: September 13, 2016
ENTREPRENEURSHIP@ UNC Kenan-Flagler: “Game-Changer” Adams Apprenticeship Program
With its September 15th deadline looming, entrepreneurial first-year MBA students at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School are busily putting the finishing touches on their applications, hoping to secure a spot in the next cohort of an innovative program the school unveiled in early 2015. For the 20 to 30 students chosen, participation in the Adams Apprenticeship could be a “game-changer,” according to Ted Zoller, director of Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The program, named for UNC benefactor, entrepreneur and pharmaceutical pioneer John Adams and based partially on research done by Zoller himself, is part of a long-term
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Published: September 7, 2016
ENTREPRENEURSHIP@MIT: MIT Demo Day Celebrates Next Generation of Startups
On Friday, September 9th, 17 teams of MIT students, including MBA students from MIT Sloan School of Management, will have a chance to make a lasting impact on the startup community when they present their pitches for MIT Demo Day. Eighty-six total entrepreneurs comprise the 17 teams, 74 percent male and 26 percent female. The vast majority of the 86 entrants come from backgrounds in business and engineering, mixed with students involved in science, policy and political science, and design. In total, nine “industry verticals” will be represented by the teams: logistics, energy,
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Published: August 10, 2016
Society Spotlight: The National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA)
Although minorities have long been involved in the corporate sector, challenges remain for minority MBAs entering the workforce. Thankfully, organizations like the National Black MBA Association (NMBMAA) seek to address these challenges, provide resources, and create a community for minorities in business.
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Published: August 1, 2016
Summer Reading: Biographies of Business Tycoons
There’s no better season than summer to kick back in a hammock, relax with an ice-cold beverage and soak up grizzly war stories from entrepreneurs who came, saw and conquered—and have the battle scars (and book deals) to prove it. Here are 10 bios that offer priceless insights for MBA students and emerging entrepreneurs:
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Published: April 25, 2016
Published: March 30, 2016
MBA DecisionWire Reveals Candidates’ Gravitation Toward Certain Pairings of Schools
MBA DecisionWire, where candidates share where they’ve decided to attend business school based on the offers they received, has drawn hundreds of entries already in its inaugural season. This level of activity has prompted us to introduce a new bi-monthly column where we will share observations gleaned from the MBA DecisionWire data. Read on for our first set of insights, and stay tuned going forward for more of the same! Popular School Pairings Today we wanted to look at a few popular school pairings—that is, schools where candidates who apply to one program often also apply to the
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MBA Admissions Mashup: Campus Visits, #FOMO, and R3 Applications
Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from admissions blogs at the top business schools. Congratulations to everyone receiving interview invitations and positive admissions decisions! (Needless to say, if you haven’t already done so, we urge you to head on over to MBA LiveWire to share the good news!) One way to ace your MBA admissions interview is to be able to show fit with the program, an in-depth knowledge of the curriculum, student clubs, in addition to the campus. This week, we’re featuring some admissions blogs that make the case for campus visits, how to
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Published: February 24, 2016
Decline of the Unicorns (A Startup Tale)
This post has been republished in its entirety from its original source, metromba.com. In advance of his upcoming course, ‘How to Finance and Grow Your Startup – Without VC,’ set to start 12 April 2016, London Business School’s blog recently spoke with Management Practice in Marketing and Entrepreneurship Professor John Mullins to gain insight into why we are starting to see a sharp decline in the value of so-called “unicorn” start-ups. Mullins explained at a recent Regent’s Park campus event that a combination of hysterical marketing,
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Published: February 23, 2016
MBA Admissions Mashup: Diversity & Inclusion
Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from admissions blogs at the top business schools. This week’s MBA Admissions Mashup takes a look at what business schools and MBAs are doing to promote diversity and inclusion on campus and we’ve sprinkled in several admissions tips...just in time for your MBA interview or a Round 3 target deadline.
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Published: November 16, 2015
How Will You Commemorate National Entrepreneurs’ Day (It’s Today!)
Not every MBA student heads to business school with the start-up itch, but the numbers who do are growing. In fact, 28 percent of business school applicants plan to start their own business, up from 19 percent just five years ago today, according to the most recent Prospective Student Survey Report from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).
Researchers from GMAC have been live-tweeting these and other statistics from events taking place as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2015. GEW, which takes place during the third week of November, launched in 2007 with 37 participating countries and has grown to 160 countries. Thousands of events are scheduled all over the world and more than 10 million people are expected to take part in GEW2015, which began yesterday and continues through November 22nd.
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