The Business School Broadcast - 17th November 2017

In this week’s Business School Broadcast we look at how Microsoft are on an MBA hiring spree, why a higher proportion of Harvard Business School graduates are going into venture capital and private equity than in years past, and discuss how bad habits are holding businesses back.

The Thinkers50 Ranking released

Thinkers50 released their biennial ranking of the ‘essential guide to which thinkers and which ideas matter now’ this week. Topping this year’s list is Roger Martin, the former dean of University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, and a strategy advisor to CEOs worldwide.

799 institutions globally have earned AACSB accreditation

AACSB International (AACSB) announced this past week that American University in Dubai, Chung-Ang University Business School, and Texas A&M University-Kingsville have all earned accreditation in business. A total of 799 institutions across 53 countries and territories have now earned AACSB Accreditation in business. Furthermore, 185 institutions maintain an additional specialized AACSB Accreditation for their accounting programs.

Microsoft is on a hiring spree at US business schools

The FT (subscription required) feature a story this week which discusses that despite Microsoft laying off 3,000-4,000 employees, mostly sales staff outside the US, its demand for top MBA talent continues to grow. This year, Microsoft hired about 30% more MBAs than last, and plans to hire more.

More business school grads are choosing venture capital, stats show

A higher proportion of Harvard Business School graduates are going into venture capital and private equity than in years past, according to career statistics the business school released for its MBA class of 2017 last week. While the share of students going into financial services has remained relatively constant, the overall proportion of students going into venture capital and private equity in particular has increased from 10% in 2013 to 18% in 2017. 

Another school joins the blockchain revolution 

As blockchain technology promises to radically overhaul the nature of business, changing the job landscape and disrupting across industries, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford is launching a new digital blockchain strategy short course to prepare executives. The program will begin on 28 February 2018 with six modules over six weeks.

UI business school renaming leads to concern about donor influence

A plan to name the UI College of Business after one of its illustrious alumni, financier Larry Gies — who with his wife donated a record $150 million to the school last month — ran into some trouble in the campus Academic Senate on Monday.

While lauding the historic gift, senators complained that administrators failed to follow established procedures for changing the name of a college.

Read more here.

Bad habits are holding businesses back

Businesses are harming themselves by continually using so-called best practices that are no longer useful, according to a London Business School (LBS) academic.

Freek Vermeulen, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at LBS, makes the statement in his new book Breaking Bad Habits: Defy industry norms and reinvigorate your business.

He explains how businesses can identify bad practices, eliminate them from their organisation and then create new sources of innovation and growth by out-thinking competitors.

Thomas J. LeBlanc inaugurated as GW’s 17th president

For the 17th time in its 196-year history, the George Washington University inaugurated a new president, formally installing Thomas J. LeBlanc in a celebration that honored GW's rich history, academic accomplishments and aspirations.

Arjay Miller, Ford president and Stanford business dean who called on companies to improve civic life, dies at 101

After becoming dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1969, Miller established the school’s public management program, which sought to interweave management practices with the larger concerns of government and society. He was instrumental in making Stanford’s business school one of the country’s best.

Read more here.

Donald Jacobs, pioneering Kellogg dean, dies at 90

We end this week with more sad news. Donald Jacobs who spent 26 years as dean at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and six decades as a faculty member passed away late last month. Starting in 1975, Jacobs transformed a middling business school into top-tier program and influenced several generations of teachers.