B-School Bulletin: At NYU Stern, Kissinger Told To 'Rot In Hell'

Activists protest against NYU hosting an event at Stern featuring former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Photo by Tony Wu

News from NYU Stern School of Business

“On the 45-year anniversary of being awarded his Nobel Peace Prize, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was interrupted four times and told to ‘rot in hell’ by protestors during a talk at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

“Kissinger has often been called a war criminal for his role in the bombing of Cambodia and North Vietnam and the overthrow of democratically elected Chilean president Salvador Allende, among other things. Once it was made public that he would be a guest at the Stern speaker series, ‘In Conversation with Lord Mervyn King,’ over a dozen student groups organized a protest against him titled ‘No War Criminals at NYU’ and wrote a letter calling on the university to cancel the event.

“Around 100 people gathered at Gould Plaza with a heavy police presence nearby. With their voices amplified by megaphones, they yelled ‘Hey, Kissinger, what do you say? How many kids have you killed today?’ Holding signs bearing messages like ‘Prosecute Kissinger,’ they hurled other insults at the former diplomat, now 95 years old, throughout the duration of the event, from 5 p.m. to its close at approximately 7 p.m.”

“Remember that feedback is a developmental process, number one, and it’s also an interactive process,” Smith reminds us. Tuck photo

How Women In Business Can Get The Feedback They Need

News from Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business

“Research shows that, though women tend to receive more positive feedback than men, it is often vague and isn’t tied to specific business outcomes.

“’You do have to educate your managers, because research shows that managers are not good at giving feedback, period,’ Professor of Business Administration Ella Bell Smith told listeners during an interview on HBR’s Women at Work. ‘But the reality of it is that you need to be prepared, and you need to realize that this is a chance for growth. This is a chance for learning.’

“Smith goes on to offer a few ways women can prepare so they receive the best feedback: 1. Consider an appropriate time to approach a manager, after a major project, for example. 2. Walk into your annual performance review with clear goals and outcomes. 3. Listen, take notes, and ask specific questions about the feedback—whether positive or negative—you receive. Ask for examples. 4. Seek multiple sources for your feedback. 5. Reflect and come up with three ways to respond to the feedback you’ve received.”

Manifest, a distributed ledger solution, placed first in the 22nd annual Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge. Photo by Matt Marton

Chicago Booth’s Polsky Center Launches Alumni New Venture Challenge

News from University of Chicago Booth School of Business

“The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago announced the launch of the Alumni New Venture Challenge (ANVC), a new track of its nationally-ranked Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge startup accelerator program. The ANVC is a new global program dedicated to supporting all University of Chicago alumni who are in the process of launching and developing their startup ventures.

“Since 1996, the Polsky Center has helped launch more than 230 startup companies still in operation today that have gone on to raise more than $915 million in funding and more than $13 billion in exits through its NVC program. Grubhub, Braintree/Venmo and Simple Mills are examples of three national brands that got their successful start through the NVC.”

Base10 looks to startups using automation to make workers’ jobs easier instead of eliminating these jobs entirely. Michigan Daily photo

Michigan Alum Raises $137M For Startups Aimed At Empowering Low-Wage Workers

News from University of Michigan Ross School of Business

“Base10 Partners, a venture capital firm co-founded by Thomas James Nahigian, a University of Michigan Ross School of Business alum, and Adeyemi Ajao, has recently raised $137 million for investment in the name of ‘automation for the real economy.’ This marks what is believed to be the largest debut for a venture capital firm led by a Black man. The firm focuses on investing in early-stage startups utilizing artificial intelligence, automation and data to empower low-wage workers in large industries like waste management and mobility.

“Base10 looks to startups using automation to make workers’ jobs easier instead of eliminating these jobs entirely. Nahigian, who graduated from Ross in 2009, said he and Ajao founded Base10 after noticing a lack of investment from Silicon Valley in companies using automation to help large industries like construction, waste management and real estate.”

Inclusion: Moving Blindly, Yet Intently, In The Right Direction

News from Harvard Business School

“During the inaugural Harvard Business School Orientation in the Dark (OITD), hosted by the HBS Student Association’s (SA) Diversity and Inclusion Committee, 57 Harvard Business School students were blindfolded prior to their entrance into the Yu Chin room at Chao and placed into groups of six or seven peers.

“’Introduce yourself,’ Sara Minkara, founder of Empowerment Through Integration — a nonprofit organization committed to achieving inclusion for all — announced. ‘Do not say your name, where you are from, where you went to undergrad, your work background, or your program year.’ Students initiated this task at hand with some timidity.

“Sara, who has been legally blind since she was seven years old, shared how she is inherently unable to form surface-level judgements of people, allowing her to connect with others without the societal filters upon which many at HBS are fully inclined to lean.”

Necessity Is Indeed The Mother Of Invention — Regardless Of Resources, Study Shows

News from Notre Dame University Mendoza College of Business

“Previous studies have shown that a lack of resources stifles innovation — that people in the U.S. and around the world who live in resource-scarce environments are unable to be innovative and make an impact.

“But new research from the University of Notre Dame argues that people who live in extremely resource poor environments can also be highly innovative in a different way and provide benefits to a range of people through creative problem solving.”

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.