As described on his blog, Stanford Professor Bob Sutton has been leading a workshop on spurring innovation, together with Professor Hayagreeva "Huggy" Rao and others. Customer Focused Innovation is the name of the program, in which executives spend mornings reviewing cases, theories and models and afternoons applying design thinking. Among their projects is a collaboration with a local Tesla motors dealer to improve the Tesla car ownership experience. Included in Sutton's blog is a list of 21 things 'that great bosses believe and do' to lead innovation.
A selected group of MBA students from schools such as Cornell University, Rice University, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University and Yale University, have been selected to join the Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) innovative 10-week Climate Corps program. The program trains MBA students in energy-efficient strategies and embeds them with leading corporations to analyze the most effective ways to consume less energy.
Read more about the program here.
Congratulations to Professor Garth Saloner, who has been tapped to be the next Dean of the Graduate School of Business. Read more.
Talk is cheap. So says Chip Heath, GSB Professor in Organizational Behavior. In the June 2009 issue of Fast Company, Heath and his brother Dan suggest that your best bet in reviewing job candidates is to skip the interview. Interviews are less predictive of job performance than work samples. So instead of sitting down with a prospective candidate, check out what he/she can do. A graphic designer should design something, a sales person should sell something and a librarian should research something. Would the 2008 election been different if John McCain had not relied so heavily on his 90 minute interview with Sarah Palin?
In this time of suspicion and anger over the current economic meltdown, the airwaves are a-crackle with emotion. Talking heads on TV fulminate daily, economic pundits shouting for executive blood. As mentioned in this blog earlier, there has even been debate on the Harvard Business Review site over the culpability of business schools in all this mess.
Need a change? Get away from the roar of the mob and read the reflective column of our Stanford Business School Dean, Robert Joss.
The GSB hosted Brenda Barnes (CEO of Sara Lee) this afternoon as part of the View From the Top series at the school. Ms. Barnes spoke about her experience as a CEO and what her view is from the top. Sara Lee has about 44 thousand employees and about $13million in sales with about 75% of profits coming from outside the U.S. Also of interest is that they are the 3rd largest global coffee provider.
Ms. Barnes spoke about managing for the long term in a short term world, and creating value for shareholders over time. She stressed the importance of listening to employees, and often employees knew when something was not working and needed to be changed. The three most important elements in running a company according to Ms. Barnes are governance, strategy and operations. Governance through effective boards can be very helpful in getting an outside perspective to provide guidance as well as years of experience. Barnes mentioned that having an activist investor on the board has been very helpful in steering the board.
During the Q&A session Barnes mentioned that she sees Sara Lee focusing on developing more health conscious products. She also sees continued application of “lean” manufacturing and production.
We are saddened to report that a venerable oak that has stood on the Stanford campus since the beginning -- and before -- has finally succumbed to age. The Centennial Oak, believed to have been alive at the time of the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, literally fell apart in two stages this month. It was also known as the 'Alumni Oak' from the time the GSB complex opened nearby in 1965. This beautiful landmark tree with its huge sweeping branches will be missed.
Got your attention? Sorry, not Da Mayor, but a representative from his brainchild, The Bloomberg System. If you plan to go to Wall Street, you may end up using this product. Penny Lane will be at the GSB Thursday, May 15 to present two sessions on Bloomberg: a basic overview from Noon to 1:00 PM, followed a half-hour later by an advanced session from 1:30 to 2:30. Location will be L-107. Space is limited, so please RSVP. GSB Faculty can do so by contacting librarian Helen Losch; GSB students should sign up via the CMC registration system. Attendees are welcome to bring their lunch, but cookies will be available. Questions? Contact Helen.
Last night Jackson Library celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a gala reception at the Library. In addition to faculty and staff of the GSB who attended, librarians from across campus and even "Jackson alumni" from the past were present to enjoy good food from Arguello caterers, good conversation with colleagues and good music with Celso Alberti and his band. Capping off the night were gracious speeches by Professor David Kreps, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (who brought greetings from Dean Joss, currently in India), Professor James Van Horne, long time friend of the Library, Karen Wilson, Associate Dean for Faculty Services and Operations and former Director of the Library, and Kathy Long, our current Director. Speakers paid tribute to the centrality of the Library in the past life of the School, as well as the promise of dynamic new ways of interaction and service in coming years. Also mentioned were the names of those Directors, some of whom were present, who guided the Library to prominence over the many years since its founding in 1933. Finally, honored guest Halle Spurr Heckler, a personal friend of Dean J. Hugh Jackson and his wife, was on hand to enjoy the festivities at the library named for her old friend. For more information, see our special anniversary page. Here's looking forward to our next 75 !
Library friend Michelle Gutman has alerted us of an upcoming discussion of the recent JDS Uniphase trial, in which plaintiffs sought damages of up to $20 billion (the jury returned a verdict for the defendants.) Professor Joseph Grundfest of Stanford Law School will moderate a panel discussion of the plaintiff’s allegations, the defense strategy, and implications for securities fraud litigation going forward. Panelists include lead defense counsel and the lead expert witness, and will discuss implications of the litigation.
Date: January 29, 2008 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Stanford Law School, Room 290
Reception: 5:00 pm, Law School Faculty Lounge
Presentation: 5:30 pm, Room 290, Stanford Law School
Register at http://rockcenter.stanford.edu/dice
Edward F. Greene, General Counsel of the Markets and Banking Group at Citibank, will speak to students about the recent investments in Wall Street firms by Sovereign Wealth Funds after the subprime meltdown, and issues these investments raise for regulators and investors.
Rock Center Governance Lunch for Students
"How the Subprime Meltdown Brought Sovereign Wealth Funds to Wall Street"
Date: January 25, 2008, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m
Location: Stanford Law School, Room 280-B
Happy 2008, everybody. Let's start the new year with a look back. Thanks to modern technology and the fortuitous discovery of an archival audiotape, we are privileged to listen again to the words of Ernest Arbuckle, Dean of the Stanford Business School, and his colleagues Professors Theodore Kreps and Alexander Bavelas, in a recording of a 1959 symposium on business education. Enjoy this rare opportunity to venture back in time by going to our GSB Oral History Program webpage. (Special thanks to Instructional Techology Media Services for their work). While there, check out the latest news about the Program, which is dedicated to recovering and preserving the institutional memory of the School.
We are pleased to report that two books by GSB Faculty were listed on the CIO Insight Ten Best Books of 2007 list. What Were They Thinking? by Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer and The No Asshole Rule by Professor Robert Sutton were both recognized. Congratulations to Jeff and Bob! Also on the list, Competing on Analytics -- just mentioned yesterday on this blog as suggested holiday reading.
The Summer 2007 Stanford Social Innovation Review is out. Included in the current issue: 'Microfinance Misses its Mark", questioning the hype about microloans, "Crushing Corruption", on how official audits dig out more graft than grassroots monitoring, "From the Bottom Line of Our Hearts", on why businesspeople don't mention values when discussing social responsibility, "Learning from Government", on what the public sector can teach the nonprofit / business sectors, "Uniting for Survival", about Chicago-area cancer support centers pooling their strengths, and "Unselling Meth", on how graphic ads shock teens away from drugs. Read more online, or in the Current Periodical racks at Jackson -- or subscribe to the SSIR yourself.
We invite any of the GSB community who have not yet seen our display in Jackson Library commemorating the Fortieth Year of Professor Jim Van Horne's tenure at the GSB to do so now. This summer the exhibit, which has stood for several months, will be replaced. Located in the glass display case near the Library entrance, the material highlights the legendary career of Van Horne, the Giannini Professor of Banking and Finance, who is retiring after having taught over 8,000 students, including many prominent GSB alumni and business leaders around the world. Also included in the display is a reminder of the Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES.)
Two Stanford students, one from the GSB and the other from the school of engineering, just launched a new service called Techtain. The idea is to bring people together in a social network and encourage them to exchange valuables regardless of price differences, provided they know one another intimately. The aim is also to help the environment by cutting down on waste and pollution from transportation by connecting you with people located geographically near you which have an item they no longer need but another person might. There are private and public TtCircles, and owners of private TtCircles could restrict membership to family members and close friends. You can post products you want to sell or swap and Techtain will connect you with those wanting to sell or swap similar items geographically close to you. So if you are a student and are interested, just sign up at www.techtain.com
Congratulations to GSB Faculty Hau Lee and Keith Krehbiel, for winning this year's MBA Distinguished Teaching Award and PhD Distinguished Teaching Award, respectively. These prestigious awards are given out each year to GSB instructors who inspire, as well as educate. Read more.
The Los Angeles Times and The New Orleans Times-Picayune have both written stories about Stanford GSB students working directly with the New Orleans-based nonprofit organization Idea Village to support the growing community of entrepreneurs contributing to the region's redevelopment.
For example, in the LA Times, the story of the Community Book Center, a longtime fixture on Bayou Road in the city's Esplanade Ridge neighborhood; the building and contents sustained wind and water damage not covered by insurance. Stanford students brought hope, physical labor and business savvy to this firm, and many others. The Times-Picayune tells a similar story of the Driscoll family's Oak Street antiques shop (no relation.) The students offered sweat labor, but more importantly they offered a Stanford trademark -- brain power. They consulted with the family and helped them develop a marketing plan to get them up and out from under the rubble. Congratulations for a job well done !
Want to hear some good news about teamwork? Our own GSB Professor Bob Sutton, in his blog, gives glowing praise to a Stanford d.school [design school] team on which he recently served. Sutton says he disagreed with at least a third of the decisions that were made, but since he respected everyone so much, he never felt any resentment about what the team decided to do. And he felt this was true of every member of the team. Sutton makes interesting observations on the dynamics of dispute in any team, then draws three conclusions on why this team excelled. Quoth he: "That just might be the best team I will ever be on in my life." Sutton concludes: 'Freud said something like "groups bring out the best and the worst in human behavior." This time I get lucky, and got the best!'
VLAB (The MIT / Stanford Venture Lab) invites GSB students to an evening with bestselling author Geoffrey Moore (Crossing the Chasm, Dealing with Darwin) and a panel of three veteran CEOs from Barracuda Networks, Postini and Proofpoint.
The event, starting at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, November 15, includes an hors d'oeuvres reception, followed by Moore's speech and a panel discussion in Bishop Auditorium. The reception in Arbuckle is $15 for GSB students, the presentation, starting at 7:00, is free for GSB students.
Roads to Innovation takes place at Stanford this weekend (November 11-12.) The conference aims to "disentangle the drivers of innovation in the economy and the role of universities, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and corporations in the promotion of new ideas and technologies."
Open to MBA and PhD students, GSB alumni, Stanford students and alumni, and professionals, the event will present distinctive policy makers, businesspersons and scholars in the debate on the enablers of technology, and promises to be a characteristically 'Stanford event' -- exciting, thought-provoking, and rewarding.
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.
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.
|
