B-School Bulletin: 9 Wharton Faculty To Follow On LinkedIn

News from The Wharton School

“More than a decade ago, LinkedIn launched as a new type of recruitment and networking tool — a social network for professionals to post their resumes and grow their connections.

“Now, with more than 530 million users in 200+ countries, LinkedIn has evolved into a leading B2B marketplace and publishing platform where users can share valuable industry insights and build powerful influence. More than 3 million unique writers publish on LinkedIn each week, and Wharton faculty are some of the standouts.

“In fact, Wharton’s own Dean Geoffrey Garrett earned a spot on the inaugural LinkedIn Top Voices list in 2015, and this year, Gad Allon and Adam Grant made the list. Dean Garrett and Grant also have standing as LinkedIn Influencers, an invitation-only group of the world’s foremost thought leaders and innovators selected by LinkedIn.”

How The Wrong Team Can End Up With Too Much Power In An Organization

News from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

“By the early 1990s, the Sears catalog — the phone book-sized tome that once showed American families the latest in clothing and home appliances — was hemorrhaging money. Analysts had argued for years that Sears should use its resources to enhance its brick-and-mortar stores, rather than keep the mail-order division afloat.

“So why did Sears continue making the catalog? The short answer: legacy.

“The catalog had once been responsible for a huge portion of Sears’s revenue. Consequently, the catalog division had been granted more and more power every year, until the company’s leadership could not overrule them, even when it knew it should.

“’Then the question is, ultimately, why did they have more power?’ says Michael Powell, an associate professor of strategy at the Kellogg School. ‘Why didn’t Sears just take it away?’”

Andy Wu

New Study Sheds Light On Angel Investors In The U.S. Economy

News from Harvard Business School

“The American Angel, a comprehensive national study released November 29, provides a detailed picture of angel investors — who they are, where they live, and how they make investment decisions.

“The report is based on a comprehensive survey of 1,659 accredited angel investors in the United States led by Laura Huang, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Andy Wu, assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. Their team of researchers designed and implemented the study in collaboration with the Angel Capital Association and Rev1 Ventures, which raised the John Huston Fund for Angel Professionalism to fund this research.”

Surviving The Generational Clash

News from INSEAD

“The demographic change of ageing populations brings challenges on several fronts. Some of the questions raised are about how to finance retirement systems or how to best develop the talent and skills needed in a changing economy. In many developed countries a clash of generations seems to be emerging, encompassing inequalities in wealth and uneven access to adequate entitlements to pensions, as well as different work practices and divergent perspectives in corporate life amongst boomers, Gen Xers and millennials.

“Generational differences regarding attitudes, work behavior and life choices are symptoms of wider economic trends. The context for the younger generations is very different than that of their parents or grandparents. The well-documented generational divide in terms of wealth accumulation is so large that in the United Kingdom some young people say they would rather have grown up in an earlier time. This may be the first time in industrialized history, save for periods of war or natural disaster, that the income of young adults has fallen so much in comparison to the rest of society.”

IU graduates and philanthropists Riley Fuller and Ben Higgins speak at Hodge Hall about their for-profit coffee company, Generous, and nonprofit organization, Humanity & Hope United Fund

Former ‘Bachelor’ Star Says Doing Good And Doing Business Can Go Hand-In-Hand

News from Indiana University Kelley School of Business

Ben Higgins looked out into a sea of women — and some men, 14 out of a crowd of over 50 people to be exact, too.

“‘I don’t know what your intentions for being here are,’ Higgins said as some girls giggled in the back. ‘But I hope you’ll listen to what I have to say.

“Ben Higgins, former TV reality star on ‘The Bachelorette’ and ‘The Bachelor,’ returned to campus Dec. 1 to speak with students about working for fulfillment, not just toward a paycheck.”