B-School Bulletin: Kelley Dean To Help Light Olympic Flame

IU Kelley School Dean & 2 Alumni Participating In Olympic Torch Relay In Seoul

News from Indiana University Kelley School of Business

Idalene Kesner, Kelley dean, will carry the Olympic torch in South Korea

“Idalene ‘Idie’ Kesner, dean of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, will travel to South Korea and join two alumni in the torch relay leading up to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

“Kesner will carry the torch in Seoul near the Heungkook Life Insurance Building between 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Jan. 13.

“She will be preceded on the torch run by Curtis A. Ferguson, president of Greater China and Korea for The Coca-Cola Co., who earned a Bachelor of Science from Kelley in 1980. Following Kesner will be Young-Jin Kim, a 1984 MBA graduate who is chairman and CEO of Handok Inc., a pharmaceutical/health care company that develops, manufactures and distributes health care solutions in South Korea. They are among thousands of torch bearers carrying the Olympic flame on a 1,253-mile (2,018-km) route through South Korea. Other participants have included Park Ji-Sung, the most decorated Asian soccer player in history; Choo Shin-soo, a member of the Texas Rangers baseball team; You Young, South Korea’s youngest national champion figure skater; and a humanoid robot dubbed HUBO.”

Percentage change in the MDRI, the ADS Business Index and the Index of Consumer Sentiment since the beginning of 2004

When Homeowners Confide In Google, Forecasters See Clues To Mortgage Defaults

News from UCLA Anderson School of Management

“An index that tracks the number of Google searches for ‘foreclosure help’ or ‘mortgage assistance’ is a timelier gauge of default risk in the mortgage market than indicators typically used for forecasting, according to research published by the University of California Riverside’s Marcelle Chauvet, UCLA Anderson’s Stuart Gabriel and Copenhagen Business School’s Chandler Lutz.

“The Mortgage Default Risk Index, which the researchers built by aggregating Google search phrases that suggest homeowner distress, correctly predicts rises in mortgage defaults before standard indicators hint at trouble ahead, according to the findings published in the Journal of Urban Economics. The index, the study concludes, acts as a leading indicator to the most up-to-date measures of housing markets in use today.”

Mateusz Morawiecki

New Prime Minister Of Poland A Kellogg Graduate

News from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

“Kellogg School of Management alumnus Mateusz Morawiecki was appointed Poland’s new prime minister Dec. 11, according to The New York Times. Morawiecki was chosen by party leader Jarosław Kaczynski to replace Beata Szydło, who resigned Dec. 7.

“Taryn Tawoda, associate director of external communications for Kellogg, confirmed in an email that Morawiecki is an alumnus of Kellogg Executive Education. He received a certificate from the Advanced Executive Program — which is no longer offered by Kellogg — in 2006, Tawoda said.

“Morawiecki served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development in Szydło’s cabinet after joining the ruling right-wing Polish Law and Justice Party in March 2016, according to The Washington Post. The party’s push to restructure Poland’s court system is being seen as an effort to make the judiciary less independent, and are under intense scrutiny from European Union officials, according to The Times.”

Mandela’s Lessons In Self-Leadership

News from London Business School

“The most important battles that any leader has to face are resolved in that mysterious mental space we call the self. Nelson Mandela is the most memorable and revered leader in modern history for his actions. It was his inner strength that powered his historic achievements.

“This was underscored for me recently when I talked with two people in South Africa who had known him well: Mandela’s lifelong friend but political opponent Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Christo Brand, his prison guard leader for the last 15 years of his incarceration. There are lessons for us all.

“Mandela was a man of iron-self-discipline, unshakeable vision and values, enormous human warmth, high intelligence and an articulate tongue. He adhered to strict ethical and strategic boundaries, yet he knew when to be flexible and meet the enemy with a smile – even an embrace. He is rightly judged to have been a very special leader. But how did he get to be that way?”

Margaret Graves pivoted from a career in consulting to information technology in the U.S. government. She now serves as acting chief information officer of the country

Meet The Darden Alumna Serving As Acting CIO Of The United States

News from University of Virginia Darden School of Business

“As acting chief information officer of the United States, University of Virginia alumna Margaret Graves (MBA ’82) oversees the vast web of technology that supports and protects the work of the federal government every day.

“It’s a big task and one to which Graves is deeply committed. She joined the federal government shortly after 11 September 2001, when several colleagues she worked with during her management consulting career lost their lives.”

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