How I Got My Dream Job At McKinsey

Why India’s Smartphone Revolution Is A Double-Edged Sword

News from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

“Imagine you live in a small village in rural India. Your annual income is around $1,800. You’ve never owned (or even used) a computer or the internet, or any of the electronics that are a part of daily life in Western nations. Suddenly, you have access to a smartphone.

“’To most Indians, the smartphone is their first camera, first TV, first video device, first Walkman, and first MP3 player. It may even be their first alarm clock and calculator,’ according to Ravi Agrawal, managing editor of Foreign Policy and former CNN New Delhi bureau chief. That is the dramatic change this small device is bringing to hundreds of millions of Indians, as extremely low-cost smartphones and data plans increasingly become available.

“Technology in India has traditionally been only available to the rich, to English speakers, and to city dwellers, Agrawal noted. Indeed, the internet was ‘long a source of great divides in India,’ he said, but the smartphone could start to close the gap.”

Search Committee Formed To Identify Next Carey Business School Dean

News from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

“Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels has announced that an 18-person, university-wide search committee has been formed to identify the next leader of the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

“Bernard T. Ferrari, who has led the Carey Business School through a period of exceptional growth in his more than six years as dean, announced last month that he will retire as of July 1. Provost Sunil Kumar will chair the committee that will help find Ferrari’s successor, Daniels wrote today in a message to faculty, staff, and students.”

Who Gets Blamed When A Group Project Goes Wrong?

News from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

“New research into that question calls to mind the curious case of one much-maligned researcher.

“It began in 1986, when six researchers published a major paper in the journal Cell. Among the authors were a little-known assistant professor named Thereza Imanishi-Kari, who had devised the paper’s central experiment, and Nobel Prize winner David Baltimore.

“But soon after the paper was published, Imanishi-Kari was accused of falsifying her data.”

Michael Lin photo

Store Closures On Main Street Exemplify Challenging Job Market

News from Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business

“Those who appreciate downtown Hanover’s charm might be distressed this winter by the recent closures of several long-time small business staples. The Dartmouth Bookstore, Canoe Club restaurant, and the clothing retailers Folk and Rambler’s Way have all permanently shut their doors in the past few months, falling victim to a trend that has made some Hanover merchants uneasy about the future.

“’It’s a gaping hole,’ said Hanover town manager Julia Griffin of the vacancies, ‘and that’s not good.’”

Antino Kim. Photo courtesy of the Kelley School of Business

The Hidden Treasure Of Digital Piracy? It Can Boost Bottom Line For Manufacturers, Retailers

News from Indiana University Kelley School of Business

“HBO’s popular television series ‘Game of Thrones’ returns in April, but millions of fans continue to illegally download the program, giving it the dubious distinction of being the most pirated program.

“Many may wonder why the TV network hasn’t taken a more aggressive approach to combating illegal streaming services and downloaders. Perhaps it is because the benefits to the company outweigh the consequences. Research analysis by faculty in Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and two other schools found that a moderate level of piracy can have a positive impact on the bottom line for both the manufacturer and the retailer — and not at the expense of consumers.

“‘When information goods are sold to consumers via a retailer, in certain situations, a moderate level of piracy seems to have a surprisingly positive impact on the profits of the manufacturer and the retailer while, at the same time, enhancing consumer welfare,’ wrote Antino Kim, assistant professor of operations and decision technologies at Kelley, and his co-authors.

“‘Such a win-win-win situation is not only good for the supply chain but is also beneficial for the overall economy.’

“While not condoning piracy, Kim and his colleagues were surprised to find that it can actually reduce, or completely eliminate at times, the adverse effect of double marginalization, an economic concept where both manufacturers and retailers in the same supply chain add to the price of a product, passing these markups along to consumers.”

CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S B-SCHOOL BULLETIN – STORIES GENERATED BY SCHOOLS THEMSELVES

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