Rotman Puts New Spin On Back-to-School - Poets&Quants

Week one of pursuing a MBA for these Rotman School of Management students means working with Scadding Court Community Centre to help reduce gun violence in Toronto. Photo by Eugene Grichko

As Summer 2018 winds down, B-schools are filling up with a fresh crop of MBA students. For most incoming MBAs, the start of first-year is marked with newcomer orientations, team-building activities, and networking over fancy cocktails. But for Courtney Manning and others who arrived at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management this week, the scene is much different. Her second day of school, Manning sat not in a classroom but under a basketball hoop inside a local recreation center, mulling the issue of gun violence in Toronto.

A new partnership between Rotman, global consulting giant McKinsey & Company, and the city of Toronto brought Manning and others here. COMPASS is a five-day immersive experience giving Rotman’s incoming full-time MBAs insight into the life of a consultant. Even if consulting is not in students’ planned career trajectory, the purpose is to gain skills that are universal to just about any business path. Students are immersed into strategy, solutions crafting, working with clients, and more, all while tackling live challenges that support the Toronto Poverty Reduction Strategy — a 20-year plan to revitalize communities throughout the city.

‘I FEEL HONORED AND INCLUDED’

Manning, a Rotman transplant from Los Angeles, California, is working with Scadding Court Community Centre in Toronto’s Alexandra Park focusing on systemic change. Specifically, to curb the increase in gun violence and gun-related deaths the city has seen over the past few years.

Rotman MBA students walk the streets of Toronto discussing systemic issues causing poverty in the city. Eugene Grichko photo

“To be able to move to a new city and have the opportunity to be entrenched in the community upon arrival and challenged with one of its most pressing and complex issues is something rare and unique. I feel honored and included. Not only that, but it was enlightening and pleasantly surprising to hear about tenant rights in this country. I could only imagine what progress could be made in the U.S. if our legislation allowed for that.”

Being born and raised in L.A., Manning also says the issues she’s working on aren’t foreign to her. “The challenge of poverty and gun violence in a prosperous big city is something I am very familiar with, as it is very prevalent in Los Angeles, particularly downtown.”

FIVE CLIENTS, SIX CHALLENGES

Manning is one in a group of 70 students tackling gun issues as others from Rotman’s incoming class of 350 are dispersed throughout 12 other sites. Altogether, the Class of 2020 is doing work for a total of five different clients: Toronto Shelter, Support, & Housing Administration, Scadding Court Community Centre, Free Geek Toronto, Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre, and Toronto Employment and Social Services.

Each client group is working on Toronto Poverty Reduction pillars which address housing stability, services access, transit equity, food access, the quality of jobs and incomes, and systemic change. At the end of the immersion, micro teams within each client group will give an 8-10 minute presentation followed by one single presentation to the client with the strategic approach they perceive will make the most impact.

‘WE WANTED TO DO SELF-DEVELOPMENT, NOT COMPETITION’

The new approach Rotman is using to welcome incoming students is the school’s way of providing community building, as all MBA launch weeks do, but with added benefits of getting to know the city in which they’ll live and work, contributing to that city in a meaningful way, and most importantly self-development.

On the self-development front, each student receives feedback and coaching throughout the experience. In this regard, Rotman’s director of student life and international experience, Neel Joshi says what Rotman is doing is different than the case competitions that a lot of other schools deploy when they welcome MBAs.

“The case competition model is incredible in many ways, but it doesn’t bring out the behaviors we want to cultivate,” Joshi says. “We wanted to do self-development, not competition.”

Professional development feedback is rendered from several McKinsey associates and partners — all Rotman alumni — as well as Rotman staff. McKinsey members will also offer additional follow-up at the end of the experience, providing each student with a feedback deck for further personal development.

Says Joshi, “Everyone wins as a result. It’s a win-win all around instead of, ‘I win, you lose.’”

First-year and second-year Rotman students come together for a communal dinner. Eugene Grichko photo

FROM CONSULTING TO COOKING

Of course, kickoff week is not all work and no play for Rotman MBAs. All sections wrap up their COMPASS field component alongside second-year students who volunteer to help design and prepare a communal meal with them.

Second-year Rotman MBA Bianca Brooks says, “These communal meals at Scadding Court Community Centre, allow our students to better understand their own privilege. It’s a great way to get them outside of the B-school and help them see the connection between their roles as future business executives and being of service to society. We’re also happy to know that the funds for hosting this experience go directly back into supporting the community centre.”

Dan Gerharts, another second-year student and president of Rotman’s culinary club says,  “Nothing builds community more than preparing a meal together. The experience is an equalizer and removes any barriers. It helps students build authentic relationships.”

DON’T MISS MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR MBA EXPERIENCE and THE 20 MOST ‘DEEPLY OPTIMISTIC’ MBA COURSES

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Gen Z Is Coming. Are B-Schools Ready? - Poets&Quants

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash.

“Z” is for Generation Z. As in, Generation Z is coming. A new report from the Graduate Management Admission Council offers a peek into the future pipeline of business school candidates: Gen Z: A First Look at the Next Generation of Graduate Business School Candidates includes responses from more than 1,300 Gen Zers — defined as those born between 1996 and 2012 — showing that business schools would be wise to pay attention to this growing demographic, if they aren’t already. That’s because the preferences and aspirations of these prospective students are likely game changers in management education.

GMAC’s report is the outcome of a survey distributed to mba.com registrants. The report shares responses of 1,317 Gen Z prospects from 10 different global regions and 7,466 in the same regions who are millennials. Input from both groups offers noteworthy comparisons between the current generation and the one that’s to come.

GEN Z QUICKER TO CONSIDER A BUSINESS MASTER’S, SLOWER TO ACT

An initial look into the crystal ball shows the next generation of business school candidates are considering graduate management education much sooner than their millennial counterparts. According to the survey, Gen Z candidates currently in the pipeline first considered pursuing graduate management education nearly two years before completing their undergraduate degrees.

The same look at median number of months for millennials? Not until eight months after graduation did they pre-contemplate.

However, after the initial thought, Gen Z prospects are much slower to act. They take longer to complete an application and enroll, and even longer to formulate an initial list of target programs.

STRONG PREFERENCES FOR PROGRAM TYPE AND LENGTH

Speaking of business programs to consider, here’s where a major shift could occur. While most of the Gen Z and millennial respondents shared that they are considering business for their graduate education (not surprising given that they are registrants of the mba.com website), more of the Z generation say they are exclusively looking at a business master’s of some kind rather than the long-coveted MBA. What’s more, almost 65% flat out say a business master’s is what they prefer.

Meanwhile, the opposite rings true for Gen Z’s predecessor, the millennials, who prefer the MBA at a rate of 64%.

In addition to program type, B-schools should consider the length of their offerings if they’re looking to act based on GMAC’s findings. While the overwhelming majority (91%) of Gen Z respondents prefer full-time programs, nearly half of the Z crowd say they’d like a program that’s somewhere between 13 and 18 months in duration. In other words, a good four to six months shorter than a typical two-year full-time MBA option. Not only this, but another 30% say they’d prefer their master’s program to be condensed even more than 13-18 months.

THE STATUS OF THE MBA

Much of the report’s findings support others that point to a decline in interest for the MBA and students’ desire for more flexible, more convenient options. From the closure of prominent MBA programs to the growing preference for more specialized choices, the question has been raised: Are MBA programs dying?

Not only this, but another report earlier this year found that the digital era could stand to disrupt things completely as nontraditional programs and digital badges — think online workshops and courses, MOOCS, Coursera, and the like — grow in popularity.

Still, all hope is not lost for B-Schools and their MBA programs. Survey data from Poets&Quants has revealed healthy increases in MBA applications during the 2016-17 application cycle. At least 16 of the top 25 U.S. schools reported application increases, four of which showed double-digit increases in the number of candidates.

DON’T MISS: IS TRADITIONAL BIZ ED AT RISK? or GLOBALLY, MBA APPS SEE INCREASE

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Cornell Johnson Shares Class of 2020 Stats - Poets&Quants

Cornell Johnson College of Business Class of 2020. Jon Reis Photography

This week, Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business released the profile for its incoming Class of 2020. The data show the school has held steady in nearly all areas, with the exception of two key demographics: women, which are up, and international students, which are down.

As 280 first-year MBAs arrived for the first day of school on Cornell’s Ithaca, New York campus, the class contained 6% more women than the previous year — up to 33% from 27%, an achievement the school attributes to a laundry list of initiatives, including increased scholarships for women who enroll, better conversions among those who participate in the annual Johnson Women in Business event, and an all-around rally by the Johnson community to strengthen and improve the experience of women at the school.

Meanwhile, the fresh crop of Johnson MBAs came up 7% short of last year on the international students front. Essentially, the two figures have flip-flopped: In 2017, 27% of the incoming class were women, 34% international students, but this year 33% are women and just 27% are international.

EXPLAINING THE DROPOFF IN INTERNATIONAL ENROLLMENT

Cornell’s full-time program is currently ranked 14th among top MBA programs in the U.S. by Poets&Quants. This is the lowest number of incoming international students for the program in the last few cycles. Last year’s 34% was a point higher than 2016’s 33%. 

“The year-over-year change in our international student enrollment looks more pronounced than it is,” Judi Byers, executive director of admissions & financial aid, tells P&Q. “While we saw a slight decline in the overall number of international submissions made during the 2017-18 season, we offered admission to several more international candidates and were consciously selective to enroll the candidates for which the school is in the best position to support with regard to their career goals and objectives.”

Byers alludes to the strenuous climate facing many internationals, saying, “The challenges impacting international students right now are not unique nor specific to any one program in the U.S.; our approach with regard to international student enrollment is to maintain the global diversity that our community values while also maintaining a high level of support throughout the entirety of the MBA experience.”

The executive director reports that there were a handful of international students who were set to join the latest incoming class, but were granted deferrals to due to visa complications or delays. “In these instances, I want to ensure that the candidates we’ve selected to join our program and community are given the full support they need to successfully enroll,” Byers says.

DECREASE REVEALS A DIVERGENCE FROM PEER SCHOOLS

Whether a decline in international student enrollment is the continuation of a trend among top full-time MBA programs remains to be seen, as we await the release of more Class of 2020 profiles. Nevertheless, falling below 30% in international students appears to be a deviation compared to such peer schools as Columbia Business School, Yale School of Management, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and New York University’s Stern School of Business, the latter of which is the only school to have released 2018 incoming class stats thus far.

This fall, Stern increased international students from 37% to 39%. In 2016, the incoming class had 31% international students. Women in the class, however, dropped from 38% last year to 35% this year — a stat that’s divergent in its own right compared to top other B-schools that are currently increasing the number of women in their full-time MBA programs.

While Class of 2020 intakes haven’t yet been released by Columbia and Duke, a glance at where they stood a year ago shows that 30% international students or higher seems to be a norm for this peer group. Columbia’s 2017 entering class of full-time MBAs consisted of 43% international citizens and 41% women. In 2016, 48% were international students, 38% were women. In the case of Duke, last year’s incoming class was 39% international students, down just 1 percentage point from 2016. Yale maintained 45% international students in its 2017 incoming class.

MINORITIES, MILITARY VETS, AND OTHER Y-O-Y CHANGES

Outside of women and international students, a few other year-over-year changes can be seen within Johnson’s full-time MBA Class of 2020. Total number of countries represented rose from 38 to 40, and underrepresented minorities went from 12% to 15%. On a downward trend: military vets, who decreased 4%, from 11% to 7%.

In most other areas, Cornell’s incoming class remained relatively unchanged: Average years of work experience (five) and average age (28) are identical to the last two years; average GMAT score fell by one point, from 700 to 699; and average undergraduate GPA rose to 3.4 from 3.36 the year before.

Byers says the Johnson School received 1,600 applications during the 2017-18 admissions season — 53 fewer than the year before.

“Our acceptance rate for this year was 33%, up from 30% the year prior, and reflective of our decision to emphasize class composition as a school priority, value, and enrollment objective,” she says. “The overall professional experience and academic profile of candidates who enrolled this year remained strong and our community is more diverse — with more women and students from underrepresented backgrounds (including LGBTQ) — now too, which is already shifting the experience to be richer and more inclusive than it was previously.”

DON’T MISS: MEET CORNELL JOHNSON’S MBA CLASS OF 2019 or PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: CORNELL TECH MBA

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Goizueta Dean Joins SurveyMonkey Board - Poets&Quants

Erika James, dean of Goizueta Business School. SurveyMonkey photo

Serena Williams. Sheryl Sandberg. Erika James? In a company blog post from the head of SurveyMonkey, Zander Lurie, the CEO extended open arms to the dean of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, writing, “Today we’re officially welcoming Erika James, the Dean of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, to our board.”

As a board member for the popular survey software company, James will sit alongside the likes of superstar tennis player Serena Williams and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.  The appointment, announced today (Aug. 15) also gives the Atlanta-based dean a prime seat in the boardroom of a well-known player in Silicon Valley. With James’ appointment, the 10-person board reaches a notable milestone: half of the seats are now occupied by women.

James says that while she’s happy to be the person to help achieve the milestone for the online survey development company, she doesn’t take any credit for it. “It’s really the leadership of this company,” she tells Poets&Quants. “It’s a testament to the commitment of the board, recognizing the value in having diverse perspectives and that women are in a position to add incredible value as we think about how work gets done.”

FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO HEAD UP A TOP BUSINESS SCHOOL

Emory Goizueta photo

James is no stranger to milestones. She is a long-time academic and B-school administrator with a portfolio that’s packed with accomplishments and noteworthy credentials. Prior to Emory, she served as the senior associate dean for executive education at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. She also served as an assistant professor at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business and was a visiting professor at Harvard Business School.

In 2017, James was named one of the most admired CEOs by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and in 2016 she was recognized on a national level as one of Ebony Magazine’s “Power 100.”

When she assumed her position at Goizueta in 2014, she became the first African-American woman to sit at the helm of a top business school, currently ranked as having the 20th best MBA program in the U.S. by Poets&Quants, an accomplishment SurveyMonkey’s CEO cited in calling her the type of trailblazer his board currently needs.

“As the first black woman to be appointed dean of a top 25 business school, Erika is exactly the kind of change agent we need on our board,” Lurie wrote. He also referenced the dean’s award-winning work as a researcher and consultant, areas for which Dean James is widely known for her expertise in leadership, diversity, and women in business. “Her research and consulting work inspires companies to be more thoughtful about their hiring and leadership principles, and encourages women to pursue a career in business,” the CEO said.

JAMES TWEETS: ‘I’M HUMBLED AND HONORED’

Post-announcement, James took to Twitter to express gratitude for her new appointment. “I’m humbled and honored to be added to SurveyMonkey’s board of directors. I’m looking forward to the new opportunity and the ability to create meaningful change,” she tweeted.

Speaking to Poets&Quants, she says the key value she expects to bring to the board is her extensive experience in education. “What’s most attractive about my profile is being steeped in the higher-education market. The company is expanding avenues to gain access to new markets within higher education. Years in this arena and knowing how to connect with administrators and faculty can be useful as they expand into the education sector.”

Her expertise in crisis leadership is another value-add, she say: “As an expert in crisis leadership, it’s always a useful knowledge base for any organization. It’s always helpful to have someone who knows how to weather difficult circumstances.”

B-SCHOOL DEANS SERVING ON BOARDS NOT UNCOMMON

James’ appointment to SurveyMonkey’s board highlights a tendency among business school deans to serve the business community by way of board appointments. Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett serves as a board member for Park Hotels and Resorts, Chicago Booth Dean Madhav V. Rajan is a long-time board member for San Jose, California-based semiconductor company Cavium, and Harvard Business School’s Nitin Nohria joined the board of Tata Sons in 2013, though it was recently announced that he will step down from that role next month.

It is the fourth current board position for Erika James, who is in her first term on the board of the Graduate Management Admissions Council while serving on two nonprofit boards with East Lake Foundation of Atlanta and the Arts Alliance Theater Board for the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta. She’s also a past board member of Junior Achievement of Atlanta.

DON’T MISS DEAN’S FIRST JOBS: FROM WASHING DISHES TO SELLING HOT DOGS or BUSINESS SCHOOL DEANS CONFESS THEIR FAVORITE ‘MISTAKES’

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IE Wants To Boost Innovation, Entrepreneurship In Africa - Poets&Quants

Participants gather for IE Africa Day 2018. IE courtesy photo

Continuing on a committed path to help drive innovation, leadership, and social impact throughout Africa, IE University in Madrid, Spain, has announced a new initiative to support the mission. Coming this September, the institution is set to embark on the launch of its new IE Africa Center.

“Our goal is to support African changemakers and promote innovation, financial inclusion, and the empowerment of African women,” Carlos Mas, vice president of the IE Foundation overseeing the new venture, says in a news release. A highlight of the new center will be the IE Africa Social Innovation Booster, a program to accelerate innovative and entrepreneurial ideas put forth by African business leaders that promise strong social impact. The social innovation initiative will be coordinated in conjunction with IE’s Social Innovation Center and serve to “strengthen issues related to team management, fundraising, innovation, and sustainability,” the school’s press announcement states.

The IE Africa Center will be headed up by Begoña Gómez, a 20-year consulting and teaching pro who specializes in design and implementation of strategic projects focused on fundraising and sustainability in the nonprofit sector. Gómez also happens to be the spouse of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. She brings a wide range of experience to the director’s role: Gómez is a former consulting director at Inmark Group, and since 2015 has served as co-director of the master’s in public and private fundraising for nonprofit organizations at the Higher Center for Management Studies at Madrid’s Complutense University. She has more than 20 years’ experience in consulting and teaching.

AFRICAN PARTNERSHIPS THAT SPAN 10 YEARS

IE’s affinity for Africa isn’t new. Executive training programs, women in business, and women entrepreneurship initiatives all fall within the school’s portfolio of efforts staged throughout the continent as well as an annual Talent Without Borders scholarship program to facilitate African candidates’ access to IE’s degree, masters, and exec ed programs plus various training and social impact projects spread throughout Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Nigeria.

The upcoming center will provide a strategic framework for these and other such African-centered initiatives while showcasing innovation happening throughout the region.

“IE has been promoting executive education and leading social impact programs in Africa for the past 10 years. The creation of this center is a further indication of our commitment to Africa and will allow us to invest in our strategic initiatives,” says Felicia Appenteng, the new center’s chairperson.

AFRICA’S GROWING IMPORTANCE IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY PIQUES THE INTEREST OF MANY

Appenteng stresses the forward-thinking aspects of IE’s move. “With this center, we aspire to reshape the way that the next generation of global executives and entrepreneurs understand African history and culture,” she says. “With the world’s largest percentage of people under the age of 18, the highest concentration of natural resources, and a new wave of political reform, Africans on the continent and in the diaspora are reclaiming their place in the world. IE must be an integral part of the change which will reveal Africa to the world.”

 IE isn’t the only institution with its sights set on future economic growth and prosperity in Africa. As Poets&Quants recently reported, many MBA scouts are targeting Africa for prospective students, an interest that’s reflective of the region’s growing prominence in the global economy.

But IE may have an edge, boasting a student population that draws from more than 130 countries around the world. Each year, more than 100 students from Africa enroll in the university, which reports an African alumni network of some 600 graduates.

DON’T MISS: WHAT AFRICANS SCORE ON THE GMAT TEST or MBA CASE STUDIES TO SHOW AFRICAN SUCCESS STORIES

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From Private Equity Pro To ‘Robot Of The Year’ - Poets&Quants

Photo ©Vincent Fournier from the Man Machine series. Courtesy photo

You’ve heard of business for a greater good. Make way for artificial intelligence for a greater good. That’s the mission behind a recently launched robotics and AI competition created by TRIUM Global Executive MBA alumnus Philippe Nacson.  

If the thought of a robot competition sounds too futuristic for your liking, it’s that kind of view that Nacson says his competition, The Robot Of The Year, is meant to dispel. Fears of artificial intelligence wiping out jobs or — for worse — humans are the kind of Hollywood fictions Nacson intends to counter with this year’s challenge, which centers on AI’s potential to help foster a better, more sustainable world.

For those who still aren’t convinced AI is good for anything beyond verbal commands to Siri and Alexa, Nacson invites them to consider robots working with children who have autism and helping them grow in a better fashion; exoskeletons helping disabled people work in the same manner as those without disability; and robotics used in the health sector to improve treatments provided to humans.

‘I’M NOT TRAINED AS A CREATIVE. I’VE BEEN WORKING IN FINANCE THE LAST 20 YEARS.’

The fact that he’s created The Robot of the Year challenge and launched a company to drive AI investing has no one more surprised than Nacson himself.  A 20-year career in investment banking, finance, and private equity led him to the TRIUM Global Executive MBA. The innovative degree program is jointly issued by NYU’s Stern School of Business, London School of Economics, and HEC Paris School of Management with modules that take place in six different cities around the world.

Nacson enrolled in 2010 and graduated from the program in 2012. His motivations for going to business school were to explore more fields and to enlarge his vision and understanding of business. Never was it his intention that his MBA experience awaken the entrepreneur in him or send him off exploring a line of work outside of the financial sector.

But that is exactly what happened.

“I remember we were in London for the module located at LSE,” Nacson says. “We were in one of the coaching sessions when the coach asked what our ideal job would be. What would we love to do in our lives if we had the choice?

“My thought was, ‘I’m 40 years old. To me this is not a relevant question. I’m doing this MBA, but more than likely, I’ll still work in some kind of finance job.’” Still, Nacson says, he decided to play along. “Since I had to answer, I said I would love to do something creative and I’d love to work in robotics. But I’m not trained as a creative. I’ve been working in finance the last 20 years and I’m not a robotics engineer so the chances of fulfilling my dream were pretty slim.”

TRIUM Global Executive MBA alumnus Philippe Nacson is the founder and creator of The Robot of The Year Challenge. Courtesy photo

‘MY WHOLE STORY IS A SERIES OF GOOD COINCIDENCES’

Nonetheless, a year after graduating from TRIUM, Nacson found himself quitting his job in private equity and doing something creative: furniture design.

“I didn’t train at all to become a furniture designer. I got selected for an exhibition in Milan for the Salone del Mobile and decided to quit my job and concentrate my energy there.”

That led to Tokyo, Japan where he went to spend some time on work related to his design activities. As he’d always been intrigued by tech and artificial intelligences, and the extreme fears associated with robots being super destructive machines set out to replace humans, he visited the Miraikan Museum, one he’d been longing to visit since its opening in 2001.

“I found it extremely interesting to understand it a bit more, and soon started to get into projects that were doing good for humans and using new tech to counterbalance this whole fear.

“I’m from Paris — born in Africa, but I’m French. For Europe and the U.S., the culture we have is not very geared towards interaction with robots and AI. The way we look at those things is on the contrary to Asian countries like China and Japan — they become used to interacting with robots since they’re very young. It’s embedded into their own culture, but not ours.” Nacson says this is what prompted him to create a worldwide competition that will favor and promote the positive innovations for humans in different sectors.

“For 20 years I worked in investment banking and private equity, then suddenly I’m a furniture designer, then that experience brings me to travel to Tokyo. That’s when I decided to spend more time in this museum I was dreaming of going to for a while. It was just a line of coincidences. A year before, I had no idea I’d be quitting my job, no idea I’d be doing furniture design, then no idea I’d end up where I am now. My whole story is a series of good coincidences.”

Photo ©Vincent Fournier from the Man Machine series. Courtesy photo

BUSINESS SCHOOL AWAKENS ENTREPRENEURIAL THINKING

A series of coincidences indeed, but Nacson credits his B-school experience for awakening his entrepreneurial spirit. “The cohort that I belonged to was very much composed of entrepreneurs and people who had gone through the entrepreneurship experience in different fields. That brought my attention to the excitement and interest already embedded in me,” he says.

“With 59 people from 32 different nationalities, I remember the scope of exchanges and quality of exchanges with people from around the world and really senior level in their own fields. Taking the time to drop out from your day-to-day life and be challenged intellectually in a different fashion than your day-to-day job opens windows of thinking and approaching things from a different angle. It’s a classic way of describing things, but this really was the case for me. It made me think, ‘This is what I really want to do. I really want to be an entrepreneur.’ But at the time, I had no idea. It ended up being a series of coincidences and being able to grasp opportunities that had been placed before me.”

As many B-schoolers often do, Nascon has since been able to tap into his alumni network. Working alongside him on the Robot of the Year challenge are two HEC Paris MBA alumni he met outside of his cohort.

Nacson tells Poets&Quants 30 projects have been submitted for The Robot Of The Year and he hopes to have 150 by the end of September. Winners will be announced in Paris on November 26 with financial support of up to 2 million euros awarded to the best ethical AI and robotics projects.

11 INDUSTRIES, 10 CRITERIA

Photo ©Vincent Fournier from the Man Machine series. Courtesy photo

Healthcare and education are just two of the 11 industries involved in the competition. Others include energy, environment, fintech, retail, agriculture, and more. Each entry into the competition must fall within one of these categories to be judged by a “jury” of renowned experts, scientists, philosophers, and entrepreneurs in the robotics and AI fields.  

“We’ve identified these as industries where the application of AI is interesting and aligned with our core principle which is the ethical use of AI and robotics,” explains Nacson. In short, he believes that artificial intelligence and robots can significantly improve people’s lives, as well as help us to build a better and more sustainable world. “There are a whole bunch of projects in this field helping humans living a better life.”

Nacson explains there are two angles to the robotics and AI challenge: prizes that will be awarded to competitors in the form of financial backing for their projects as well as a global ethical investment fund to help spur investments into ethical AI which is currently being finalized.

‘INSPIRED BY THE UNIVERSAL LAWS GOVERNING HUMANS’

Challengers must meet certain criteria when they participate in The Robot of the Year: In so many words, competing participants must design AI or robotics projects that adhere to 10 ethical principles to ensure the projects are grounded in the idea of making the world a better place. “Inspired by the universal laws governing humans,” the competition website declares, “The Robot of the Year principles are consistent with international and ethical laws recognised worldwide.”

Such principles include “human responsibility,” which says robots are the creation of humans and humans cannot ignore the laws that govern them — therefore the laws aimed at securing human lives also apply to robots. The second core principle: “physical integrity.” Robots do not kill or harm. The list goes includes other guiding core beliefs such as well-being (robots ease human labor), privacy (robots never disclose personal data, information, or inner thoughts entrusted to them), and education (robots help humans become better individuals and help humanity navigate its expending landscape of knowledge and diversity).

The competition officially launched last week in France during a tech convention alongside KPMG, one of the event’s heavyweight sponsors. Nacson says sponsors are “helping us communicate the competition and obviously tapping into their networks as far as bringing in experts to take part and participants to compete. They’ve also introduced me to other key partners that we’re currently in discussions with and they’re helping me for the fundraising side of the project.”

DON’T MISS: MEET THE HEC PARIS MBA CLASS OF 2019 and HEC PARIS & YALE SYNC UP IN NEW PROGRAM

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Startups Show Off Wharton’s Entrepreneurial Chops - Poets&Quants

Three Penn Medical students took the first-place prize of $37,000 at the Penn Wharton Startup Showcase. Their startup, Sanguis, sells an at-home device for patients to monitor their health during chemotherapy treatment

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School may be known for churning out investment bankers and finance professionals, but the second annual Penn Wharton Startup Showcase on Friday (April 27) proved there is a thriving startup scene inside the school as well.

An entrepreneurship competition that started in January came to a close last week with a culminating event showcasing eight finalists who survived multiple rounds of judging and outlasted hundreds of students who took part in the Shark Tank-style event.

The top prize of $37,000 was presented to startup Sanguis, whose eponymous device was pitched as a personalized chemotherapy companion that reduces infections from chemotherapy side effects. The at-home, easy-to-use device monitors neutrophil counts inside a person’s cells and alerts patients if their counts are dangerously low.

BIG CROWD WELCOMES 8 TEAMS

It was a packed house inside a Huntsman Hall auditorium as eight teams filed in one after the other to present their startup ideas to an esteemed panel of Penn alumni judges. As each team presented, two themes quickly emerged: problem solving and disruption.

Katherine Sizov, Penn undergraduate student in the College of Arts & Sciences and CEO of Strella Biotechnology — a biotech startup that uses sensors to predict fruit ripeness and help reduce food spoilage and waste — described the current supply chain for fruit this way: “This industry is ‘ripe’ for disruption.”

The Strella team was a crowd favorite in the showcase, walking away with three prizes totaling $15,000, one of them being a social impact prize for $10,000.

EVENT DRAWS CROSS-DISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION AMONG STUDENTS

Karl Ulrich is Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Wharton

Students participating in the competition came from all majors and disciplines across the university and ranged from undergrad and grad students to MBAs and Ph.D.s, a welcome trend for event organizers who say they are delighted by the cross-disciplinary, multi-level collaboration taking place.

Karl Ulrich, Wharton’s vice dean of entrepreneurship and innovation, told Poets&Quants he attributes this in part to a rebranding that took place two years ago. “Instead of calling it the Wharton Business Plan Competition, it’s the Penn Wharton Startup Showcase, so we emphasized Penn and the university. I am pleased with the level of cross-university participation.

“Wharton had, for 18 years, run a business plan competition. The new name represents a repositioning of that long tradition. We wanted to emphasize that creating a new business is a process. That’s why we’ve called the process the Penn Wharton Startup Challenge, and then this event the Penn Wharton Startup Showcase.”

ARE YOU A DISRUPTOR?

The six-member judging panel didn’t hold back, drilling students on their process and pressing them for explanations about the risks involved with their companies, plans to reduce said risks, long versus short sales cycles, marketing strategies, and who or what industries stood to be disrupted by their proposed startups.

For their part, the student teams appeared unrattled by the tough questions, leaving judges with an equally tough task to identify first-, second-, and third-place winners.

One judge, David Cohen, a four-time Penn alumni parent and CEO of Karlin Asset Management Inc., described it this way: “I had two thoughts listening to these presentations. The first is, each one was so well done with so much thought put into each idea and presentation. It was a really tough job. In 12 years I’ve been judging this competition, this is the most impressive class of finalists I can remember. My second thought was, I’m very grateful I’m not a student. There is some really great competition.”

AWARDS FOR MOST PROMISING SOCIAL IMPACT, INNOVATION, MORE

Shanel Fields — a first-year Wharton MBA — and business partner Randy Findley took second place for their startup MD Ally

In the end, the second-place prize of $15,000 was awarded to MD Ally, an emergency telehealth company seeking to reduce the use of 9-1-1 and ER resources for non-emergency issues; and the third-place prize of $10,000 went to Avisi Technologies, which makes a nanoscale drainage implant for the eye to help fight glaucoma. Each of the three winning teams also earned an additional $15,000 in legal, accounting, and business strategy services.

Awards were also given for most promising social impact, people’s choice, innovation, and the top team of majority undergraduate students.

Prior to the eight finalist presentations, the Penn Wharton Startup Showcase involved a gallery of 27 semi-finalists gathered inside Wharton’s iconic Baker Forum. There were elevator pitches — inside actual elevators — as the school showcased a bustling community of innovation and entrepreneurship. School officials say event attendees each year include students and faculty as well as actual venture investors and backers looking to keep abreast of potential opportunities.

‘IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP, THIS IS A GREAT PLACE’

To this end, Vice Dean Ulrich says the event shows Wharton is more than just a place for future bankers. While the school is proud of its strengths in that area, the perception of Wharton as a finance school actually hasn’t been true for a long time, he says.

“To give you an example, in the Wharton undergraduate class last year, less than 50% went into financial services. Ten years ago it was higher — it may have been as high as 70% — but it’s under 50% now,” Ulrich says. “So the reality is that Wharton is very much a finance and ‘other things’ school and that’s been true for some time.

“Our message is, if you’re interested in entrepreneurship, Wharton’s a great place. There are tremendous resources, not just in terms of dollars, but also in terms of this vast mentoring network because of just how big and accomplished our entrepreneurial alumni are.”

DON’T MISS: POETS&QUANTS’ TOP MBA STARTUPS OF 2018 and FINANCE CAREERS FALL TO A NEW LOW AT WHARTON

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2018 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Jordi Quoidbach, ESADE Business School - Poets&Quants

Jordi Quoidbach

Associate Professor 

ESADE Business School

ESADE’s Jordi Quoidbach is interested in the exploration of happiness and the determinants of happiness. His work seeks to increase happiness among individuals and to help them make better personal and professional decisions for themselves. This research has been published in top academic publications and is often covered by popular news media. Professor Quoidbach has written several prominent books on emotion and happiness and even hosts a happiness coaching TV series “J’ai decide d’etre heureux” (I Decided to be Happy) that is broadcasted on French television. Students say they are captivated by the research and energy he brings into the classroom, practical role playing activities, and interactive lectures.

Age: 37

At current institution since what year? 2017

Education: Ph.D. in Psychology, Social and Personality Psychology, University of Liège, Belgium, 2010.

List of courses you currently teach: Negotiation, People Management

Twitter handle: @jquoidbach

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LIFE AS A PROFESSOR

“I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when…” I started attending Mike Norton and Francesca Gino’s lab meetings during my post-doc at Harvard and realized how incredibly fun, yet practically relevant, my work life could be.

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? Human beings spend about 25% of their time experiencing some form of conflict between choosing to do something that makes them feel happy in the moment and something that will make them feel happy in the future. I am fascinated by the way we overcome such trade-offs in daily life. Over the last couple of years, my collaborators and I have been measuring the activities and emotions of tens of thousands of people in real time. We found that for most of us, happiness is a delicate balance. When we’re feeling down, we tend to seek activities with short-term rewards to boost our spirits (e.g., leave work early and go for a drink). When we’re feeling good, we often sacrifice fun activities for the potential of longer-term welfare (e.g., pass on the drink to make progress on an important project). One key takeaway from this research is that happiness can perhaps be seen as a resource: when we don’t have enough, we need to replenish it, but as soon as we have enough, we can potentially use it to get things done. Putting some time aside every day for moments of fun might actually make our days more productive.

“If I weren’t a business school professor…” I’d love to be an undercover critic for the Michelin Guide.

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? A high energy level combined with a high propensity to give unsolicited dating advice. Always evidence-based, though!

“One word that describes my first time teaching” :

Out-of-tune. I tried to look cool by playing some music in the classroom before the beginning of the class. The results of that experiment were 100 puzzled pairs of eyes and 10 extremely awkward minutes before class started.

If your teaching style/classroom experience had a theme song, what would it be?

I’d love it to be “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” by DMX – but realistically, it’s probably closer to a cheerful ballad.

As a b-school professor, what motivates you?

Finding ways to translate complex research ideas into simple actionable advice that students can try in their everyday lives. And being told later that some of these ideas made a difference.

“Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor”:

Nothing. I like surprises.

Professor you most admire and why:

I feel incredibly lucky to have benefited from the mentorship of Daniel Gilbert, Elizabeth Dunn, and Michael Norton, who, in addition to being some of the smartest, most caring, and coolest people I’ve met, showed me how everyday human behavior is an endless source of inspiration for research.

STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students?

Coming from a relatively “old-school” university system, where students religiously take notes without asking questions, I keep being amazed by how engaged and engaging my MBA students are.

What is most challenging?

Spending hours engineering perfectly balanced student groups and learning 5 minutes before class that some people cannot make it.

Using just one word, describe your favorite type of student:

Curious

Using just one word, describe your least favorite type of student:

Arrogant

What is the most impressive thing one of your students has done?

We were playing a group version of the prisoner’s dilemma where students had the choice between collaborating or betraying others across a series of rounds. The students on one team each decided to put down $100 of their own money that others could keep if they ever betrayed the group. In the last round, one particularly kind-hearted student decided to betray her group members, effectively losing her money. When I asked her why she did it, she replied: “I’ve never betrayed anyone in my entire life and feeling what it’s like to be selfish for the first time was a life experience well worth a hundred bucks.” I loved it!

What is the least favorite thing one has done?

Being disrespectful and condescending towards another student in front of the entire class.

What does a student need to do to get an A in your class?

Get out of their comfort zone and be willing to experiment with new behaviors.

“When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as …”

Very generous

“But I would describe myself as …”

Caring very little about the formal grading system and much more about the choices they’ll make outside of class.

Fill in the blank:

“If my students can challenge common sense, trends, and what intuitively feels right with data and evidence, then I’ve done my job as their professor.”

LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Fun fact about yourself:

I’ve spent hours learning and practicing the Japanese version of Frozen’s “Let it Go” to impress Tokyo’s local karaoke aficionados.

What are your hobbies?

Playing badminton, German-style board games, and exploring Barcelona’s fantastic food scene.

How will you spend your summer?

Preparing a room for my soon-to-be-born first child.

Favorite place to vacation:

Liège, Belgium, where I grew up and where many of my closest friends still live.

Favorite book:

The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov

What is your favorite movie and/or television show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much?

There are many, but I’d say The Wire because of its brilliant, multifaceted analysis of the forces that shape human behavior. And also because of Omar.

Favorite type of music and/or favorite artist:

It varies a lot. At the moment, a French rapper named Orelsan.

Bucket list item #1:

In fact, I just crossed it off: I had always dreamed of living in Japan. Last year, I got the chance to do a sabbatical in Tokyo. It was a wonderful experience!

THOUGHTS OF REFLECTION

What professional achievement are you most proud of?

Publishing a paper in Science was very exciting—mainly because it helped my engineer, chemist, and biologist friends acknowledge that a psychologist could do “real science.”  

What is your most memorable moment as a professor?

When I tried to make the point that our thoughts are just thoughts by asking everyone in class to share a negative self-judgment out loud after inhaling from a helium balloon. The classroom looked like an 8-year old birthday party with hundreds of balloons flying around, but I think it was a powerful experience for many students.

“If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this…”

A required class on what makes life rich and meaningful

“And much less of this…”

Focus on school rankings

In your opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at doing what? Please explain.

Routinely integrating the scientific method and experiments into business decisions. Too many practices, especially when it comes to managing people, are based on untested assumptions (at best!).

Looking ahead 10 years from now, describe what “success” would like for you.

Ten years from now, “success” would be to still get as excited about exploring research ideas, starting new collaborations, and interacting with students, while being as present as I can be for my kids, family, and friends.

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2018 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Stefano Tasselli, Rotterdam School of Management - Poets&Quants

Stefano Tasselli

Assistant Professor 

Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management

At 35 years old and just three years removed from his doctoral studies to become a business professor, Stefano Tasselli thrives both inside and outside the classroom.

As he studies and teaches topics related to social networks within organizations, Tasselli’s work as a researcher and professor touches four different countries, has garnered speaking invitations to more than 50 seminars and conferences, and has racked up nearly 20 different teaching and research awards or acknowledgements from respected institutions throughout academia.

At his current teaching post in Rotterdam School of Management, MBAs and PhD candidates rave about his down-to-earth teaching style that’s charismatic, passionate, and packed with captivating storytelling, and real-life examples that make the material come to life and easier to grasp. Consistently receiving high scores for student evaluations, students often cite their appreciation for his inclusive classroom where everyone is engaged and feels comfortable posing any question. Both inside and outside of class, he’s known to always make time for students. In the world of academia, Tasselli’s mark is equally felt. He’s described as a top-notch scholar having published in word-leading journals such as the Academy of Management Journal and Organization Studies. He’s been awarded numerous best paper awards, innovative teaching awards, and even an Alumnus of the Month award by his University of Cambridge, Wolfson College alma mater for the abundant contributions to his field of study.

Age: 35

At current institution since what year? September 2015

Education: 

MPhil and PhD in Management from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge; BA and MSc from Bocconi University

List of courses you currently teach: Social Networks and Leadership at the full time MBA; Organization of Innovation and Social Networks at master’s level.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LIFE AS A PROFESSOR

“I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… working in McKinsey and Co. as a business consultant before starting my doctoral studies, I understood that my main intellectual challenge was helping managers and professionals translate theoretical constructs into management practice.”

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I am currently studying (i) how the psychology of individuals (e.g., personality, motivation, cognition) interplays with social network structure (in terms for example of advice and friendship patterns with colleagues) in affecting outcomes of relevance for individuals and organizations, including trust and performance; and (ii) how people can change their personality over time, because of personal effort and organizational events and processes. In a recent paper published in the Academy of Management Annals, I have shown that the widespread faith in the immutability of personality is misplaced. People may positively change their personalities by increasing their engagement in activities that fit three criteria: they feel important, enjoyable, and accord with their values. Personality change can be one of the most vital outcomes of organizational experience.

“If I weren’t a business school professor… I would love to be a soccer coach and manager”

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? The passion that I transmit to my students, and my continuous effort to help them develop critical thinking.

“One word that describes my first time teaching”:  

An epiphany, a revelation that it was what I wanted to do in my life.

If your teaching style/classroom experience had a theme song, what would it be?

Frank Sinatra’s My Way

As a b-school professor, what motivates you?

Research wise, the desire to understand more in depth the underlying psychological and social mechanisms explaining human interaction in the workplace; and to capture that inextricable link between our hidden and inner self and the self that we reveal and we shape through our social interactions. Teaching-wise, the desire to bring my students with me through this journey, and show them the business implications of these research questions.

“Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor”:

Sometimes it’s hard (when deadlines for papers’ resubmission are too close, when you are working on a pile of papers that you need to revise and resubmit, when you receive rejections), but the excitement is always bigger and more rewarding than the difficulties.

Professor you most admire and why:

I admire several colleagues, but one person in particular, Martin Kilduff. A source of intellectual inspiration for me.

STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students?

Helping my students find their way. A few weeks ago, a former student, now an alumnus, gave me a beautiful card in which he wrote that I was ‘an inspiration’ for him. This was very important for me.

What is most challenging?

Making the teaching meaningful for students’ professional choices. This is the main challenge.

Using just one word, describe your favorite type of student.

Hungry of knowledge, inquiring, never satisfied of what she or he knows. ‘Der Wanderer’, quoting a famous lied by Schubert.

Using just one word, describe your least favorite type of student.

I tend to like all students. I believe that our goal is to make students interested in what we teach, and not the other way round.

What is the most impressive thing one of your students has done?

I could mention several examples. A brilliant alumna is leading a project to use artificial intelligence to help people improve their lives. Another student rejected prestigious offers from the industry to follow his dream and launch his startup. The list could be long.

What is the least favorite thing one has done?

I do not have in mind negative examples.

What does a student need to do to get an A in your class?

Ability to connect and bridge the different pieces of knowledge that we discuss in order to generate intellectual and business value.

“When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as …

Fair, not particularly strict, and attentive to detail.”

“But I would describe myself as …

Fair, not particularly strict, and attentive to detail.”

Fill in the blank:

“If my students can reach the moon with their imagination, but also understand what is gap between imagination and reality, then I’ve done my job as their professor.”

LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Fun fact about yourself:

I am an atypical Italian. I do not drink coffee.

What are your hobbies?

I like playing soccer, squash and tennis. I love nature, arts, good readings, philosophy and movies. I like travelling.

How will you spend your summer?

I will travel for conferences and I will work on my research. Not so much time for holidays…

Favorite place to vacation:

Prato Piazza, an enchanting and green upland in the middle of the Alps between Italy and Austria. From there, you can literally touch the sky with your fingers.

Favorite book:

I love books, and it is very difficult to choose only one. I would mention The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann and Elective Affinities by Goethe.

What is your favorite movie and/or television show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much?

I love movies as well. As a good Cambridge alumnus, I would mention Chariots of Fire. I appreciate the ideals of gentleness, sportsmanship, self-improvement, respect and friendship that the movie communicates.  

Favorite type of music and/or favorite artist:

I write my papers listening to classical music. In particular, baroque music and Monteverdi Madrigals.

Bucket list item #1:

Piloting a plane.  

THOUGHTS OF REFLECTION

What professional achievement are you most proud of?

I am particularly proud of the paper on Personality-Network Fit that I recently published in the Academy of Management Journal. It was an exciting journey. I was also proud of being selected by my College in Cambridge as the alumnus of the month, and of the best paper award that I received at the Academy of Management Conference.

What is your most memorable moment as a professor?

When I taught my first executive lecture with the Dean in the classroom. I felt a bit pressured, but also particularly motivated and it worked well.

“If I had my way, the business school of the future would have…”

The ability to be a place in which we simultaneously generate culture and science, and we help students and professionals use such culture and science to develop new opportunities for themselves and for the society.”

“And much less of this…”

A place in which research and teaching are incommensurable words and worlds”

In your opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at doing what?

They need to understand that business and people are not separate ontologies, but represent a duality. In the last few years, the excessive de-materialization and virtualization of business opportunities and processes have progressively eroded the fundamental trust-tie that bridges individuals, organizations and institutions. We need to make the business world more ‘personal’ — generated by people to serve the needs of other people — to change this dangerous trend.  

Looking ahead 10 years from now, describe what “success” would like for you?

I would like to be one of the leading scholars in my field. I would like to inspire the new generations. And I would like to generate positive change at the individual and organizational level.

Students say…

“I could say many positve things of this exceptional young teacher and researcher, but I want to highlight one quality, his ability to transmit and communicate top level research in a way that is relevant to professionals like me. His study of the relational antecedents of work outcomes is foundational to our understanding of organizations.”

“More than in my previous courses, Stefano created very interactive lectures by not using standard Powerpoint slides. Instead he developed lecture notes on the go. He wrote down key notes (visible to all students) of discussions and answers on the questions he asked us. As Stefano has quite some practical experience in the field, he can very much relate to his own experiences from consulting. I could notice that he has a lot of experience, because instead of using standard examples that every teacher already used, he could give his own examples from the field. At last, Stefano was always very open to help and dedicated to the course. You could ask him anything: he would certainly make time for you.”

“He demonstrates passion in the material he covers in lectures which motivates all the students to be passionate in what is being taught. An example of this is that he makes the students interact and discuss the material that is being taught and it is noticeable that students are intrinsically motivated to participate.”

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