Jackson Library

Hope you have enjoyed reading our blog so far. We would like to highlight blogs from members of the GSB community on our blog. Do you have a personal blog? Does your student club have a blog? Check out the right-hand box of our blog and see if yours is there. If not, tell us and we will add it.

Are you aware of the cool podcast channel, Social Innovation Conversations, from our Center for Social Innovation (CSI)? It brings you the voices of people at the forefront of creating social change around the world. Discover what they have to say about how we can improve society and the environment.

HEAR THE LATEST ON
Corporate Citizenship · Philanthropy · Responsible Investing · Social Entrepreneurship · Sustainability · International Development · Disaster Relief · and more

Go to Social Innovation Conversations at www.siconversations.org

Ed Batista's blog cites a recent article 'The Neuroscience of Leadership' from Booz Allen Hamilton, which builds on findings in brain research to explain why conventional wisdom in the organizational development field can be wrong.

Batista quotes : 'The implications of this new research are particularly relevant for organizational leaders. It is now clear that human behavior in the workplace doesn't work the way many executives think it does. That in turn helps explain why many leadership efforts and organizational change initiatives fall flat ... '

But he goes on to critique the article's "Humanism is overrated", a jab at psychological practices inspired by Rogers and Maslow. Says Batista: 'It's not an effective critique of humanism, although it is a highly effective critique of various misunderstandings and poorly implemented management practices.'

GSB students: We understand that renewing study room keys every two hours can be kind of annoying. The library is going to let you keep your study room key for 3 hours during the autumn quarter. Let's see how it works out.

From Guy Kawasaki's blog Signum sine tinnitu comes this response to a panel of today's youth he moderated:

"The bottom line message is that before you waste your marketing dollars, you should watch what the panelists had to say ... "

The Churchill Club presentation 'Next Generation Insights' featured young adults aged 15 - 24. Among other things, they send 4000 text messages per month -- vs. watching one or two hours of TV per week. From such insights, Kawasaki calls this blog entry 'Is Advertising Dead?'

In U.S. News & World Report, publisher Mort Zuckerman draws comparisons between inequalities of the fabled 'Gilded Age' of 19th century America, famously satirized by Mark Twain, and today.

Professor Bob Sutton's blog points out a recent New York Times article Selling Soap and how it teaches us lessons in evidence-based management. The story focuses on an effort at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to get doctors to wash their hands. A number of incentive schemes were implemented. In the end, it took a disgusting image related to a lack of cleanliness to push up near 100% hand-hygiene compliance. "The administration then decided to harness the power of such a disgusting image. One photograph was made into a screen saver that haunted every computer in Cedars-Sinai. Whatever reasons the doctors may have had for not complying in the past, they vanished in the face of such vivid evidence." Professor Sutton tells what we could learn from this story.

In ' Demise of the Public Intellectual', Peter Klein talks about Mark Oppenheimer's cri de coeur about the fading of scholars who write for the informed public or academics reading outside their specializations. Oppenheimer: "I have long believed that admissions committees at graduate schools should work very differently. Instead of asking for letters of recommendation from undergraduate thesis advisers, admissions committees should try to figure out if an applicant is an intellectual."

The October Atlantic captures quotes from figures at its Aspen Ideas Festival (full-text available on Stanford network), co-sponsored with the Aspen Institute.

Among the participants were History Professor David Kennedy of Stanford, scientist Bill Joy, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, preacher T.D. Jakes, Karl Rove, Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz, Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright.

Online communities formed around games good for our youth? Not if you're Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy. Joy decries the idea that young Americans are gaining anything appreciable by playing video games: "If I was competing with the United States, I would love to have the students I was competing with spending their time on this kind of crap."

Dutch intellectual Rob Riemen weighs in on the Decline of the West, a popular topic these days. Riemen criticizes the decline of spiritual identity and the socioeconomic phenomena attendant on this development. The result, he says, is "the total utilitarian society. It's all about economics, what is measurable, and material values."

Dana Gioia, poet and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, talks about his underprivileged childhood and how he was inspired by poetry and art to awaken to the full potential of his life. Speaking of hearing Chopin in his school classroom, he concluded as a boy that " ... I wanted to go wherever this stuff was."

And former president Bill Clinton on foreign relations: "But the point is ... you want people to admire and not to resent America. ... You want them to think, basically, we are the good guys on the right side of history, and we are pulling for them ... "

From the October issue of The Atlantic comes news on how unrest is sweeping China, and the regime's limited efforts so far to contain it. Economic concerns are the source of the current agitation. Both peasants and industrial workers are dissatisfied; the Government's meddling with state companies has hurt workers.

Meanwhile, high school history textbooks are being revised in China, according to a New York Times article of September 1. Tom Peters notes that Mao and socialism have been de-emphasized. From his blog, tompeters!

Marti Barletta authored one of Tom Peters' favorite books, Marketing to Women -- and she coauthored with him one of the four "Tom Peters Essentials" books, Trends. And in January 2007, he says, she'll offer her newest: PrimeTime Women.

"Baby Boomer facts" Peters pulls from his copy of Barletta's book:

A boomer turns 50 every 7 seconds. By 2009, the majority of U.S. households will be headed by someone over 50. By 2006-2016 U.S. population will be up 22.9 million; 22.1 million of the increase will be in over-50 group. By 2006, 1 in 5 adults is female, over 50. The percentage of women between 50-70 who are single: 35. Ages 45-54 have highest average income, $59,021 (national average is $42,209). Fastest growing income category is women, 55-64 (4X men in same category). Of women, age 60-64, 50% still in workforce. Highest net worth? Families, 55-64 ($182,000). People over 50 have 70% to 79% of all financial assets; 80% of all savings accounts; 62% of all large Wall Street asset accounts; 66% of money invested in the stock market. Age 50+ is 29% of population, has 40% of total consumer spending, 50% of discretionary spending. In next 2 decades: boomers will inherit $14 - 25 trillion ("largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history").

Jackson Library has been awarded the Center of Excellence Award for Service for 2006, presented by the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Business and Finance Division. The award for service was given in recognition of Jackson's development of quality practices and services, saying it "successfully executed its strategic initiatives with a distinct breadth and depth." The judges were especially impressed with the library's approach to tracking goals directly to customers' needs, encouraging staff at all levels, and soliciting continuous feedback to evaluate its services and identify areas for change or improvement.

The Center of Excellence Awards recognize customer-driven quality and leadership within the framework of an organization dedicated to the gathering, analysis, and dissemination of information within the business community. The awards serve to recognize the best of "best practices" in three categories: service, management, and technology. The awards take their inspiration from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards, which are given annually to U.S. organizations to recognize and promote quality as a critical component of innovation and competitiveness. • more details

Tom Peters' blog offers his endorsement of a recent BusinessWeek article "What's really propping up the economy"

Peters writes: 'Long-time, brilliant economics reporter Michael Mandel begins, "Since 2001, the healthcare industry has added 1.7 million jobs. The rest of the private sector? None." Paradox: We decry h-care spending -- and without it, at one level, we're sunk. Interesting, no ?'

While you're in the entrance area of the Library you might want to visit our display case, where we have created a tribute to the career of Professor Jim Van Horne, an outstanding teacher at the GSB for the past 40 years.

In the case you'll also find a commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES).

Some insights on 'throttling' (actions to cause less profitable customers to change their behavior and become more profitable) from Ed Wesemann's Creating Dominance blog. He points to well-known examples of Netflix and banks, and then moves on to describe how 'throttling' can be applied to law firms.

New students: Want a 15 minute overview of Jackson Library? Jackson Library has lots of hidden corners. What is the Trader's Pit? Where can I fax? I'm interviewing for a job, where can I do research? Why not come for a snack and a tour of the library and get some answers.

During the first week of class, drop by the entrance area of the Library for snacks and a quickie tour, each day at 3:00 p.m. If you can't make it at 3 p.m., ask for a personalized tour at the Information Desk.

Gain fast familiarity with the GSB's library, containing one of the largest business collections in the world. Its resources are waiting for you to use. Remember, they're very expensive out in the corporate world, so take advantage now -- or you may regret you didn't, after you graduate.

Welcome to Jackson Library! I hope both the new and the returning MBAs find Jackson a welcoming and comfortable place to study, work, and collaborate. Every month I will give away a free lunch to the comment, suggestion, or feedback message that gives me the most information to work with, so please e-mail them to me Long_Kathy@gsb.stanford.edu.

To get you started off the new term we have posted links to blogs with a GSB connection. Marquis is an 06 grad now with McKinsey, who was one of the most popular student posters last year. Fran Maier, another GSB alum, has a lot to say about the issues and challenges facing women in management. Bob Sutton loves librarians so we love him and his Work Matters blog. Check out these and the others listed on the right and send us your favorites.