Johns Hopkins Carey School To Relocate To Famous Newseum Building

Corinne Prevot, a graduate of the Tuck Business Bridge program, created Skida, a ski-inspired hat and accessories brand known for its quirky patterns, sustainable ethics, and deep New England roots. Rob Strong photo

Mountain Made: How Tuck Bridge Propelled Skida’s Whimsical 27-year-old CEO To The Cutting Edge Of The Sports Apparel Business

News from Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business

“Snowballed. That’s the term Corinne Prevot uses to describe the business she started as a 17-year- old ski racer at Vermont’s Burke Mountain Academy, a school renowned for turning out champion ski racers. Prevot had started as a downhiller and switched to cross-country in her junior year. She loved the sport but found its grey knit cap fashion aesthetic uninspiring. At home that rainy Christmas holiday in 2007, she bought a yard of floral-print Lycra fabric at a local craft store and sewed matching hats for herself and her teammates.

“So started Skida, a ski-inspired hat and accessories brand known for its quirky patterns, sustainable ethics, and deep New England roots. Last season the company sold more than 100,000 Vermont-made hats, headbands, and neck warmers, earning its 27-year-old founder and CEO a spot on Forbes 2018 30-Under-30 list of young entrepreneurs. The magazine has had its eye on Prevot for years; in 2011 when she was a junior at Middlebury, she filmed an interview for the Forbes website, telling a reporter how she’d built the company from scratch without borrowing a dime. ‘The money comes from the hats,’ she explained to the man, who looked to be in his 40s and clearly dazzled. He asked her to describe her style as a CEO, and Prevot smiled. ‘Whimsical,’ she said.”

Read more


The Future Of Firms In An AI World

News from London Business School 

“Whatever we think about them, we can all agree on one thing: computers are brilliant. They can process vast amounts of data. They can do so at an astonishing speed. (How long would it take you to work out the cube root of 36,264,691? Ages – if at all. Yet within a split second, a computer gives you the answer – 331.) And computers are becoming ever smarter. It is now decades since they showed their ability to do humdrum calculations such as finding a cube root. Now they can plan the quickest route to drive from A to B, avoiding traffic jams, and tell us our arrival time. They can predict pretty accurately how many cartons of milk a shop is likely to sell in two days’ time. They can recognize faces. They can steer a car through heavy traffic.

“This exponential growth in computing power will not stop. Robots will become increasingly deft at performing tasks we currently see as the unique preserve of humans. They will become more and more skilled in interrogating patterns of behaviour by individuals and organisations and then suggesting better ways that tasks can be accomplished. Artificial intelligence (AI) will surround us even more than it does today. Within a couple of decades, the tech evangelists maintain, it will be able to replicate everything the human is capable of.”

Read more


Julia Putnam, principal and co-founder of the James and Grace Lee Boggs School, discusses her school’s reformed approach to education at the MLK Day Keynote Memorial Lecture Monday at Hill Auditorium. Sarah Kunkel/Michigan Daily

Martin Luther King Jr. Honored At Symposium, Keynote Speakers Highlight Importance Of Education

News from University of Michigan Ross School of Business

“More than 1,000 students and Ann Arbor residents filled Hill Auditorium on Monday to hear keynote speakers principal and co-founder of the James and Grace Lee Boggs School in Detroit Julia Putnam and anti-racism activist and writer Tim Wise discuss issues of inequality and injustice in America.

“The keynote memorial lecture is just one event in a two-week series of discussions, forums and events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and his efforts in the civil rights movement.”

Read more


The Real Business Case For Quantum Computing

News from INSEAD

“Internet security could soon have a new enemy: quantum computers. Such computers will be able to break existing encryption algorithms, removing protection for data exchanged over the Internet. Those who build quantum computers will make a lot of money.

“These statements make appealing headlines. However, we must exercise caution when thinking about real-world implications of quantum computing. In reality, a general-purpose quantum computer doesn’t exist yet. The day it does, it will be fast, but pretty bad at solving cryptographic puzzles. Some companies – like European IT services corporation Atos – are already selling quantum software, without ever having built a quantum computer. And the true business case for using this technology should interest smart-city visionaries more than those who are concerned with Internet privacy.”

Read more


HBR

Why Family Businesses Need To Find The Right Level Of Conflict

News from Harvard Business School

“From the outside, the Alexander family seemed to have it all.

“Henry, the grandfather and family patriarch, had managed to turn a small corner store into a national chain and market leader. Not only did the business provide the next two generations a lifestyle that would have seemed unfathomable when Henry opened his first shop, but the business helped keep the family extraordinarily close. Henry’s sons all lived in close proximity, as did their children, most of whom worked for the company after graduation and spent much of their free time together.

“Below the surface, however, another reality existed. The tragic death of one of Henry’s children years before had been devastating to the family. It brought them even closer, but it had also led to a desire to avoid conflict at any cost. Why argue when life is short and precious? But that meant that family members were so afraid of damaging the family relationships that they were extremely reluctant to confront each other–on personal or business issues. Disagreements were quickly papered over to maintain a veneer of harmony. This came at a cost that they did not realize until much later.”

Read more

DON’T MISS LAST WEEK’S NEWS- AND DATA-FILLED B-SCHOOL BULLETIN

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

Our Partner Sites: Poets&Quants for Execs | Poets&Quants for Undergrads | Tipping the Scales | We See Genius