Tag: Research Centers

A combined effort from WashU Olin Business School’s Center for Research in Economics and Strategy, Koch Center for Family business and the St. Louis Small Business Task Force aims to provide support for small businesses in a trying time while providing experiential learning opportunities to undergraduate students.

According to a press release published on PRWeb on May 26, the partnership, headed by Glenn MacDonald, Olin professor of economics and strategy, paired groups of students with seven local businesses. Each business represents an industry that’s been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders.

The businesses involved include:

• Arco & Associates
• Chill-Pak
• Core Properties
• Diba Imports L.P.
• Eckert’s
• Shanti Yoga
• So Hospitality Group

“I think this is a great opportunity to bring together top-notch minds to help our business community and the regional economy,” Glenn MacDonald said in the PRWeb press release. “Our students are some of the brightest and most motivated individuals in the country, and I am excited to involve them in this effort. It is a win-win—the students will learn from this unique experiential learning opportunity and the business owners will come away with a fresh perspective and innovative solutions.”

In addition to helping small businesses and getting real-world experience, the top three teams  received a cash prize.

Alivia Kaplan, BSBA ’22, acted as the program manager for the endeavor—so she got to see every aspect of students’ presentations and recommendations play out.

“It’s giving us the opportunity to use the skills we learn in class to help local business owners navigate their way through this particularly difficult time,” she said. “Supporting local entrepreneurs by helping them address the challenges presented by COVID-19 is an amazing way to support our community.”

And the project gave Kaplan the experience of being a consultant—and an entrepreneur. “This project gave me the opportunity to learn more about the day-to-day challenges of running a business. Working with these entrepreneurs to understand their approaches to problem solving and change management has given me insight into the approaches I want to take, both in work and in my personal life.”

Teams of undergraduate students presented their final recommendations to the business owners in a series of publicly-streamed Zoom presentations on June 3 and 5.

Judges presented the first-place win to the student team representing So Hospitality Group, followed by Chill Pak in second place and Diba Imports in third.

For Kaplan, this experience has meant helping her community while honing her own business skills. “It’s exciting to see how the skills I’m learning at Olin can be applied to help real people and real businesses,” she said. “And I feel like the project we’re doing is going to have a positive impact and help local companies adapt as they approach new challenges.”

In December 2018, I reflected in this very column on our plans to bring WashU Olin into a digital space—investing in virtual, online learning experiences. Mere months later, we welcomed Ray Irving and Nina Kim, who built a team and launched our state-of-the-art Center for Digital Learning in the fall.

Neither Ray nor Nina nor I could have imagined just how essential their services would become—and how urgently they’d be needed. Not even a semester past the CDE’s launch, the coronavirus pandemic forced a full migration into virtual classrooms.

Our world-class faculty, staff and students have been dynamic and resilient in this unprecedented situation.

“We had always planned to engage faculty in developing online sessions,” said Ray, the CDE’s director. “But that plan had been based on a more gradual transition over the next 12 months—not 200-plus faculty and staff in 10 days.”

When Ray and Nina signed on at Olin, no one could have anticipated a global pandemic that would empty university campuses around the world. But Ray and Nina—and the stellar team that they have recruited, including instructional designers such as Kella Thornton—have leapt into action to provide crucial faculty and staff support and training in online learning at this critical time.

“Although online learning is new to Olin, it’s not new to Nina, Kella or myself,” Ray said. The urgency to deliver online learning support was. The CDE team moved hundreds of faculty and staff—many of whom had never used platforms such as Zoom—into a fully digital classroom environment.

“This was an all-hands-on-deck situation,” said Nina, the CDE’s assistant director.

Indeed, it was. Almost immediately, the CDE created collaboration resources with the faculty administration team to ensure a smooth transition for students, instructors and staff. The team scheduled training meetings, created a training program from scratch and provided the necessary resources for faculty, staff and students to remain connected—wherever they might be.

“We fully understand this is the worst possible circumstances,” Ray said, “but we were determined to play the hand that was in front of us.”

They have more than delivered. I’m immensely proud of this team, and of our community’s ability to pull together in this extraordinary moment. More than simply creating an environment where online learning is possible, Ray, Nina and their team—along with our outstanding faculty and staff—have provided the space for our school to truly thrive in difficult times.

“We have heard from multiple students,” said Ashley Macrander, associate dean and director of graduate student services. “They say they are truly enjoying the online classes and think everything has gone very well.”

I’m grateful as well for the teamwork and collaboration the CDE has received from the faculty. “The faculty have been amazing,” Ray said. “They have simply got on with the task in hand, worked with us and made this happen—in extremely short order. I guess that’s what you’d expect of world-class faculty but it’s been truly remarkable to see this happen in real time.”

In fact, faculty have banded together on their own, creating a faculty learning group spearheaded by Andrew Knight, professor of organizational behavior. That group suggests new and innovative ways to use Zoom features as well as soliciting support and feedback from students, many of whom are technology experts and are gracious in sharing their insights.

Ten days after moving seamlessly into our new way of teaching, I’m proud to say we have 115 faculty teaching 230 classes across numerous time zones to many hundreds of students. We are ensuring that our students will continue to receive world-class education until such time as we can safely bring them back to campus.

I’m grateful for the foresight of our senior leadership team and the National Council for providing the resources and the talent to assemble the CDE. Most of all, I am grateful for the way the faculty, students and staff have rallied together.

We are getting through this like the world-class school that we are.

Can data science be used for good? The answer is 100% yes.

Can data science be used for bad? The answer is also 100% yes.

“And the difference between the best applications and the worst applications is us,” said keynote speaker Jaime Metzl at Olin’s conference November 1 on data responsibility and the ethics of analytics.

Metzl, a renowned technology futurist, kicked off the event. Olin’s Center for Analytics and Business Insights and the Bauer Leadership Center, in partnership with the school’s Leadership Perspective series, organized the conference.

Speakers also included representatives from Maritz Motivation Solutions Inc., Americas-Teradata, Bryan Cave LLP, Mastercard, Express Scripts Inc., Edward Jones and Daugherty Business Solutions.

“The challenge is that this future is coming at us much faster than most of us understand or appreciate,” Metzl said. “And the reason for that is that we are in an era of exponential change.”

Such rapid change is leading to a world where science fiction and science fact are connected, he said.

“We have to get out of our day-to-day, conservative mindsets to really be able to imagine where we are going,” Metzl said. “Because it is an exciting, crazy, frightening, new and fast-approaching world.”

‘Massive data pools’ and our values

Metzl cited the future of medicine as a prime example. The world of symptom-based medicine is shifting “to a new world of predictive medicine,” aided by human genome sequencing.

“We’re very soon moving into a world where every kid is going to have their whole genome sequenced,” Metzl said. “We’re going to have in very short order these massive data pools.”

Which brings up a lot of questions: How will we use the data? What are the applications that we think are OK? What are the applications that worry us?

The most sensitive application of new technologies will be for human reproduction, Metzl said.

“We humans are going to increasingly not conceive our children through sex, but we’re going to conceive our children through in vitro fertilization. We’re going to do it in the lab. And the reason is because taking conception outside of the human body will allow us to apply science to procreation.”

We must make sure that our best values guide the use of technology, Metzl said.

“This is not a conversation about technology. It’s a conversation about ethics.”

Other speakers at the conference included the following:

• Jesse Wolfersberger, chief data officer at Maritz Motivation Solutions, on “Incorporating Guard Rails Around Transparency, Targeting and Tracking.”
• Bonnie Holub, managing partner at Americas-Teradata, on “The Road Ahead: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics and Visualization.”
• Sam Garner, associate at Bryan Cave, on “Privacy Risks of Using 23andMe and AncestryDNA Services.”

The morning also featured a panel discussion on “Creating a Data Responsible Culture.” Panelists were Amit Bhagat of Amitech Solutions, Shawn Hilleary of Matercard, Chris Lehmuth of Express Scripts, Emily Spriggs of Edward Jones, and Andy Sweet of Daugherty Business Solutions.

Watch the entire Data Responsibility and Ethics of Analytics conference here.

Pictured: Technology futurist Jaime Metzl speaks at the Olin conference.

Nearly three years ago, Barton Hamilton was preparing to moderate a panel discussion at Olin’s first family business symposium, among the earliest manifestations of the school’s fledgling family business initiative.

Three symposia and $9 million later, Olin has launched a full-fledged research center dedicated to the issues surrounding family-owned business—with Hamilton taking the lead as its first director.

Dean Mark Taylor appointed Hamilton to the post effective February 2 and with that appointment, the Koch Center for Family Business is officially launched. Sure, Hamilton said, there’s a lot of work to do moving forward.

But he’s thrilled to be part of realizing the vision of the Koch family—which includes two WashU alums and St. Louis real estate developers—who underwrote Olin’s sixth research center.

“The Kochs told me this is part of their legacy,” Hamilton said. “I feel great responsibly to be a steward for their legacy and do what I can do to make the vision a reality.”

A focus on research

Elke and Paul Koch, BSBA ’61, JD ’64, MBA ’68, and Fran and Roger Koch, BSBA ’64, MBA ’66, launched the focus on family business in 2016 with a $1.09 million donation to Olin Business School. The donation paved the way for a family business initiative featuring regular symposia on the subject, a course on family businesses, student practicum projects with family business owners and a student club.

The effort was, in part, also driven by interest from students, who approached former Dean Mahendra Gupta about the subject and later presented him, at his request, with a full-fledged outline and justification for the program.

Hamilton—who is also the Robert Brookings Smith Distinguished Professor of Economics, Management and Entrepreneurship—said the foundation laid by the family business initiative will remain in place and expand.

The secret sauce of the new center, however, will be research into the unique dynamics that drive family businesses and their power, representing 64 percent of the US economy.

“We want to know the secrets to success that Cargill and Enterprise have, but there’s a lot of companies in the $50 million to $200 million range that are the backbone of a lot of communities,” Hamilton said. “Those are also businesses that face a lot of challenges and we want to understand what those challenges are and figure out how we can help them achieve more success.”

For example, are family businesses more successful in the long run than non-family businesses? They’re not thinking about the next quarter, they’re thinking about the next generation. Yet, there is a tradeoff: How do family businesses introduce new ideas and innovation when the tendency may be to do things the way they’ve always been done?

Another area ripe for research: What is the interaction between family dynamics and business dynamics? As families grow, how do they provide dividends and wealth to an expanding slate of brothers, sisters and cousins, while continuing to invest in the growth of the business?

He is excited by the prospects for what research can tell us about family business, how it can help family business owners improve and how it will guide students who will be owners of, customers of, clients of and partners to family businesses.

“This is something we can be distinctive in,” Hamilton said. “We’re putting our flag on the map and telling the world that this is something that’s important to Olin and to Washington University.”

Next steps

One advantage of a funded research center, Hamilton said, is the ability to purchase data and fund research on a scale unavailable before. Data into family-owned and closely held businesses is hard to come by, often requiring a lot of manual effort to compile.

In fact, two of his own research projects are still a long way from publication because of the mammoth effort involved in collecting and analyzing the data. One project is looking at the differential performance of CEOs in family businesses, depending on whether the CEO came up from within the family, came up in the business (but were not family members) or came from outside the business altogether.

Hamilton said the family business symposia will continue, as will a class in family business led by adjunct professor Spencer Burke, principal at the St. Louis Trust Company, who has served as the initiative’s de facto leader since its launch.

Other steps ahead for the Koch Center for Family Business include searching for and identifying promising research projects, identifying staff administrative support and recruiting a board of advisers for the center.

“The Kochs want us to be a research leader in this area,” Hamilton said. “There’s not much that’s been done given the importance of this to the economy.”

“Stop tip-toeing around these difficult topics,” said Emily Pitts, principal of diversity and inclusion at Edward Jones, as she began her Women and Leadership talk.

Pitts has been in the financial industry for 33 years and as an African American woman, it wasn’t difficult for her to recognize that the industry isn’t historically diverse. Pitts’s drive and ability to overcome adversity was striking and admirable. Her passion for the finance space was tangible as she reflected on her time at Edward Jones.

Even still, she sees room for change.

In order to raise the company’s awareness on issues of diversity and inclusion, Pitts first had to open up about her past struggles within the workplace. Pitts shared with her boss the brutal incidents of racism that had affected her at work. Her unbelievable honesty and vulnerability created a launching pad into her diversity role.

Pitts wasn’t satisfied with just sharing her own experience. She wanted to change the face of the company.

She urged the company to discuss difficult topics that people are often “tip-toeing around,” such as how men and women interact in the workplace, how employees can be their authentic self, and the reality of visible and invisible barriers at work. Pitts believes that breaking into these difficult topics is the first step toward change.

However the conversation doesn’t stop there.

Pitts managed to create a cross-cultural development program. Edward Jones noticed that it was attracting diverse talent, but having trouble retaining employees. Pitts had the answer: With this new development program, Pitts gave anyone who may feel out of place a community.

This space created a system of mentoring and support that allows Edward Jones employees to face challenges together and work to improve the company from within. Pitts reminds us that “diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance, and belonging is being able to pick the music.”

Pitts wants to transform Edward Jones into a place of belonging. Emily Pitts displays incredible strength and resilience in her ability to take her personal struggles and translate them into change in workplace diversity and inclusion.

Mimi Wang, MBA ’19, contributed this post on behalf of Olin’s Center for Experiential Learning. Lexi Bainnson, BSBA ’21, edited and formatted this CEL blog post.

In October, a student team representing the Center for Experiential Learning visited Quito, Ecuador. Quito is a city built on mountains and in the valleys with breathtaking views in all directions, no matter your location.

The angel of Quito is a famous statue located on top of one of the tallest mountains and is visible from everywhere in the city.

Left: The angel of Quito sits atop a hill and is visible anywhere in the city. Right: The view from the angel’s vantage point.

There is so much to do in Quito that our sightseeing day was jam-packed. The center of the world, located at latitude 0º0’0”, features a variety of exciting sites. We visited two main attractions during our time in Quito.

Team members Stephanie Feit, MBA ’19),
Brant Tagalo, BSBA ’20, and Mimi Wang, MBA ’19,
line up for a demonstration of some of the
increased gravity effects at the center of the earth.

The first site was built around what was originally considered the center of the world, and includes a large park with museums, restaurants, and monuments. The second was built at the true center of the earth, calculated using a modern, military-grade GPS. At this site, our team took a tour and learned about ancient indigenous cultures and some of the natural phenomena that happen along the equator line.

After a day of sightseeing, we stopped at a chocolate shop and cafe, where we had some tea and coffee. Cacao beans are grown in and around Ecuador, so it has the best chocolate and some of the best coffee in the world.

The view from the coffee shop
is quaint, and the drinks are delicious.

We also dined at Quitu, a restaurant that puts modern experimental cooking twists on classic Ecuadorian food. Quitu is unique in that it sources all of its food locally and organically. Interesting menu items include broccoli rabe cooked in cucumber and rabbit soup, fresh fish in zucchini sauce, deep fried guinea pig (called cuye), and pork tongue in a soy-like sauce. All of the dishes were served on distinctive plates made of driftwood, cross-sections of tree stumps, or rocks. Our meal there was a lively occasion appreciating authentic Ecuadorian cuisine.

We loved having the opportunity to explore and experience Ecuadorian culture outside of our time spent with our client in October. Now that we are home again, we look forward to composing our final deliverables and helping our client going forward.