B-School Bulletin: Will Penn Grad Students Form A Union?

Deans At Penn’s Grad Schools Urge Students To Vote Against A Union

News from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

“As Penn’s graduate students move closer to a vote on whether student workers can unionize, the University has increased its efforts to prevent the union from forming.

“Graduate students, led by the pro-union organization Graduate Employees Together-University of Pennsylvania, received permission in December 2017 from the Philadelphia National Labor Relations Board to hold an election deciding whether or not they will form a union.

“While Penn has not been shy about its opposition to graduate students unionizing in the past, administrators now have been taking a more active role in the past week in reminding students of what they see as the possible negative consequences associated with a unionization vote.”

Kenan-Flagler Business School Proposes Tuition Increase For Students

News from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

“The Kenan-Flagler Business School has proposed a $2,000 fee increase for undergraduate business majors and a $1,000 increase for business minors beginning in 2018-19 in order to accommodate the rising demand for the major.

“‘Business is one of the most popular majors among American college students and at least one of the things that causes interest is the good starting salaries students receive (upon graduation),’ said Douglas Shackelford, the dean of the business school.”

Duke Fuqua Dean Bill Boulding

Boulding Re-Appointed To 5-Year Term As Fuqua Dean

News from Duke University Fuqua School of Business

“Bill Boulding, who has served since 2011 as dean of The Fuqua School of Business, will serve another five-year term through June 30, 2023, President Vincent Price and Provost Sally Kornbluth said today.

“The reappointment follows the recommendation of a review committee chaired by engineering professor Jeffrey Glass.

“A nationally recognized scholar of marketing and management, Boulding has bolstered Fuqua’s interdisciplinary collaborations around campus, developed its international strategic partnerships and strengthened existing degree programs.”

Scott Galloway speaking at a conference in Munich in late January

Stern Professor: Break Up The Big Tech Companies

News from NYU Stern School of Business

“Stern School of Business Professor Scott Galloway spoke about his predictions for the future of the tech industry last month in Munich at the Digital Life Design global conference, a three-day event during which speakers present their research findings on patterns and developments in businesses.

“Not only is Galloway a professor at NYU, but also the founder of L2 Inc, a business intelligence firm that analyzes and advises brands’ digital performances. At last year’s conference, Galloway correctly predicted that Amazon would acquire Whole Foods and that hacking, phishing schemes and ransomware would reach crisis proportions — proven in 2017 when Equifax, Uber, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Chipotle were all hacked.

“Galloway claimed that he risks losing some of his clients — companies represented by L2 — over his idea of breaking up big technology.”

LBS Awarded Major Donation By Co-Founders Of Lonely Planet

News from London Business School

“The co-founders of publishing giant Lonely Planet have donated £10 million to London Business School, it was announced last month.

“The donation from philanthropists Tony and Maureen Wheeler will fund LBS’s newly established Wheeler Institute for Business and Development, which will apply business and entrepreneurship solutions to tackle the most pressing social and economic problems in the developing world.

“With LBS at the forefront of world-class business research, there is a real opportunity to apply rigorous insights from business and entrepreneurship to some of the developing world’s greatest challenges, from healthcare delivery to post-conflict recovery, and from poverty alleviation to gender equality. The Wheeler Institute will create a platform for collaboration, learning, and action for experts and change makers from business, government, NGOs, and academia.”

How Businesses Can Best Use Content Marketing To Generate Leads

News from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

“It’s your lunch break, but instead of chatting with colleagues or idly scrolling through Twitter, you eat your sandwich at your desk and tune in to a 60-minute webinar offered by a consulting company.

“The consultants hope that when you have finished the webinar (and the sandwich), your company will be more likely to purchase their services. Is that the case? Or would the consultants have been better off sending a representative to lead a lunchtime workshop or inviting you to a seminar they sponsor?

“The webinar is the winner, according to new research from Bobby Calder, a professor marketing at the Kellogg School, and Wei-Lin Wang, Edward Malthouse, and Ebru Uzunoglu, all of the Medill School’s Spiegel Research Center.”