Business & Entrepreneurship

Which companies get the biggest bang for their buck when it comes to R&D? Olin Business School professor of strategy Anne Marie Knott believes there is a strong correlation between certain characteristics of companies and their R&D practices.  Effective R&D is a sign of firm with high IQ.  But just what makes a company smart?  Professor Knott is on a mission to measure firms’ IQ and how to improve it.  Video included.

Two prominent economists made headlines last week in visits to the Olin Business School when they shared their views on the economy and its recovery from the “Great Recession.” Former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker and St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president and CEO James Bullard, PhD, offered different perspectives on jobs, financial reform and the global economy. One dared to suggest the need for increased taxes in the near future; one said the current crisis in Greece could slow the U.S. recovery.

Students graduating from Olin Business School’s undergrad, MBA and Executive MBA programs receive diplomas in separate ceremonies this month.  The will also receive some words of wisdom and advice from those who have gone before them.  Olin alumni will be the featured speakers at commencement exercises on the Danforth Campus.

Washington University School of Law’s Civil Justice Clinic, partnering with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM), has reached a settlement with the Saint Louis Public Schools (SLPS) in a federal lawsuit that challenged the appropriateness and constitutionality of recent disciplinary practices for two high school students.

The economy and recovery from the “Great Recession” will be in the spotlight this week with two prominent speakers on campus.  Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank and current St. Louis Fed president Jim Bullard will share their views at two separate events. 

Child Development Accounts are savings accounts that begin as early as birth and allow parents and children to accumulate savings for post-secondary education, homeownership or business initiatives. “There is evidence that when there are savings and assets in the household – particularly savings in a child’s name – that children have greater educational attainment, are more likely to do well in high school, attend college and graduate from college,” says Michael Sherraden, PhD, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School. Sherraden recently was named to TIME Magazine’s TIME 100.

Olin alumni and a faculty member were in the spotlight April 13 at the annual dinner and awards ceremony hosted by Olin Business school. Judi McLean Parks, PhD, the Reuben C. and Anne Carpenter Taylor Professor of Organizational Behavior, was the winner of the third annual Olin Award that reconizes research that transforms business.

Area business students had one week to solve a real-world corporate problem in the inaugural case competition sponsored by the St. Louis Association for Corporate growth. A team of four Olin finance students cracked the case and took the top prize.

Olin’s Center for Research in Economics and Strategy welcomes its second annual Distinguished Women in Economics & Strategy speaker to campus April 26 and 27: Judith Chevalier, PhD, Yale University. 

Washington University in St. Louis School of Law celebrated the outstanding achievements of six individuals at the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner April 9 in the Crowder Courtyard of Anheuser-Busch Hall.