B-School Bulletin: Six Reasons CEOs Fail

SADOH Consulting Inc.

News from INSEAD

“A consistent picture emerges from lists of top CEOs. In HBR’s Best-Performing CEOs ranking, Pablo Isla of Inditex, the parent company of Zara, Ajay Banga of Mastercard and Bernard Arnault of LVMH stand out for both performance and longevity. Between the three of them, these CEOs have served for 50 years marked by strong performance.

“While the average tenure of HBR’s global top 100 CEOs is 17 years, the average tenure of S&P 500 CEOs is now around five years, a drop of 20 percent since 2013. Most such leaders tend to fail or get pushed out of the job long before the likes of the global top 100 even start to wobble. Long-lasting iconic leaders are the exception rather than the rule.”

What Great Entrepreneurs, Salespeople, And Business Leaders Have In Common

News from University of Chicago Booth School of Business

“Successful entrepreneurs are good at sales, even when they have no previous experience or formal training. Timothy Butler, a senior fellow at Harvard and cofounder of the career self-assessment company CareerLeader, found evidence to support this stereotype while analyzing psychological-testing results of more than 4,000 successful entrepreneurs and comparing them to those of 1,800 business leaders. Butler assessed successful entrepreneurs on leadership dimensions rather than entrepreneurial characteristics, and he has company: a growing body of research is uncovering overlap as well as critical differences between highly effective entrepreneurs, salespeople, and leaders.

“Let’s start with Butler’s work, which focuses on 41 dimensions of leadership developed through years of research at CareerLeader with cofounder James Waldroop. Their model looks at leaders’ traits, skills, and interests — placing interests rather than competency at the center of career development. In this context, an analysis Butler did using self-assessment and data from 360 reviews finds that on 28 of the 41 dimensions, successful entrepreneurs looked basically the same as other business leaders.”

A Haas student has sued the UC regents. Daily Cal photo

Student Sues UC Regents For ‘Life-Altering Injuries’ After Accident In Chou Hall

News from UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business

“Raja Riahi, a student at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, filed a lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents, Peninsulators Inc. and Vance Brown Builders Inc., on the grounds of ‘dangerous condition of public property’ and ‘negligence.’

“Riahi was struck in the head by a large metal beam on Feb. 4 while adjusting blinds attached to a window covering in Room 314 of Connie and Kevin Chou Hall. The lawsuit was filed at the Alameda County Superior Courthouse.

“'(Riahi) wasn’t doing anything wrong. … It’s profound how much his life has changed,’ said Katie McIver, Riahi’s attorney.”

Resources For URMs — 5 Things You Should Know

News from Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management

Consuela Knox

“Under-represented minorities (URMs) — a group traditionally comprising African Americans, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders, and Latinxs — currently make up 30% of the U.S. population and are projected to account for more than 40% by 2050.

“Business schools, eager to provide opportunity and build diverse student bodies and communities, are extremely deliberate in their pursuit of URM candidates, offering a variety of tools and support to attract a diverse pool of applicants. Moreover, there are many school-agnostic resources available through independent organizations.”

Could Costly Housing Bring Down Superstar Cities?

News from UCLA Anderson School of Management

“With median home values that are six times the national average, San Francisco and Manhattan are textbook superstar cities, the moniker ascribed to economically robust metro areas where strong housing demand collides with limited supply growth to push prices skyward.

“Superstar cities have always been expensive, but growing income inequality adds a newer wrinkle. The battle for limited housing supply is increasingly becoming a faceoff among the wealthy. Less-flush colleagues a few rungs down the org chart, the service sector employees that make their city hum, and the public safety workers who make it function are effectively priced out.”

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