$3M gift to ASU's Carey School Establishes New Biz Chair

ASU photo

News from Arizona State University Carey School of Business

“The W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University announced a generous $3 million gift from Chuck Robel to establish the Charles J. Robel Dean’s Chair in Business.

“Charles J. ‘Chuck’ Robel is a 1971 graduate of the W. P. Carey School and a 2014 inductee into its Alumni Hall of Fame. Since 2008, he has been on the board of directors of GoDaddy Inc., an internet domain registrar and web hosting company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has served as its chairman of the board since 2015. Previously, he served as chairman of the board of McAfee, one of the world’s best-known computer-security software companies, prior to its multibillion-dollar sale to Intel.

“Robel spent the first 26 years of his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, leading its M&A technology group and software industry practice in Silicon Valley. Earlier this year, he was named to the board of directors of Sumo Logic, a cloud-native, machine data analytics platform, and was appointed chairman of the board of Model N Inc., a revenue management cloud solutions provider.”

Joanne Legler, Yale SOM admissions director. Yale SOM photo

Yale SOM Admissions Chief: How To Make App Progress Over The Holidays

News from Yale SOM

“Things are getting quiet around Evans Hall these days. Full-time MBA, MAM, and MMS students are occupying nearly every available classroom, conference room, and seat in the building, studying for finals. On our side, the MBA for Executives team is prepping for the final class weekend of 2018 and getting our party clothes out of the closet for our annual holiday soirée on Friday night.

“Of course, we’re also looking forward to a long break as Yale University closes down starting on December 21. While we hope you will also get a restful break at the end of the year—and that you’ll spend most of your time off relaxing, eating, and spending time with family and friends—this is also a perfect time to keep working (or get started!) on your Round 2 application for the Yale SOM MBA for Executives program. The deadline is January 29, 2019.

“The time off from work is a great opportunity to do some deep reflection about your career, your goals, and your next steps toward leadership in your organization or industry, and how the MBA for Executives fits into that plan. More practically speaking, if you’ve decided an application is in your near future (and since it’s the perfect time of year for a list!), I offer up some suggestions of things you can work on in preparation for a Round 2 application.”

9 Great Reads For The Festive Break

News from London Business School

“This festive season, dispose of the idea you will ‘catch up’ on your reading. Spend quality time and apply your whole self to absorbing the lessons from a couple of these LBS faculty festive reading recommendations.

“Choose carefully.”

New Year, New Habits

News from Harvard Business School

“When a new year rolls around, many of us ponder resolutions to improve our work habits. Maybe we wish to behave a little better with colleagues, become more organized, or actually take breaks during the day. But can we really change our own ingrained behavior? The good news is that social science research not only confirms change is possible, but outlines ways to make new behaviors stick.

“Here is research out of Harvard Business School that explores the latest thinking in behavioral research and how big changes can start with something as simple as a nudge.”

jhu.edu

What Looks Like Substance Abuse Could Be Rational Self-Medication, Study Suggests

News from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

“When improved antidepressants hit the market in the 1980s, heavy drinking among people with depression dropped 22%, suggesting people who knowingly use drugs and alcohol to relieve mental and physical pain will switch to safer, better treatment options when they can get them, a new Johns Hopkins University study has found.

“‘We know depression and heavy drinking go hand in hand, but no one has tested the notion that if good medicine comes along, many people will drink less or abstain altogether,’ said economist Nicholas Papageorge. ‘People look at heavy drinking as a problem or a mistake. But what we’re saying is people rationally self-medicate. If there are no good options, people will use what’s available.'”

INSEAD

How To Prolong Competitive Advantage

News from INSEAD

“When Swedish furniture giant IKEA established its first store outside of Scandinavia, it created an expansion strategy of researching new markets, then opening a flagship store with local customizations and then franchising. Its customization model was different, allowing for quirky marketing like ‘Swedes go home’ in Switzerland. IKEA used its competitive advantage of a systematic expansion model, in terms of where the stores are and how they are laid out, with the willingness to make important changes when necessary. For example, it adjusted product sizing in the United States, where traditional Swedish-designed drinking glasses had to be supersized to stop Americans from buying flower vases to use as tumblers.

“Competitive advantage, i.e. those conditions that give a company its favourable position, had been thought to last only about five years on average, according to traditional measures. But as IKEA and other firms have shown, a much longer period of success is available to some companies. When evaluating their firms, executives – and the market – have a tendency to consider only the resources they can see, ones that directly affect profit, which we call operating resources. More central to a firm’s long-term success, however, are what academics refer to as ‘higher-order resources,’ those intangible assets that improve a company and help drive long-term growth, such as strategic capabilities.”

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