Business & Entrepreneurship

Streams of junk mail with personalized offers for a myriad of services seem never-ending. While annoying, these solicitations raise significant privacy concerns about how these companies know so much about the recipient’s life. Many legislators and legal experts shy away from legislation that would protect the privacy of American’s personal information claiming that such rules would violate the First Amendment. But Neil M. Richards, noted privacy law expert and associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, denies such assumptions.

Students from Washington University in St. Louis Olin School of Business will have a shot at being Donald Trump’s next “Apprentice.” Recruiters for the popular NBC reality series, “The Apprentice,” will be on campus Feb. 10 to interview MBA students from the Olin School of Business.

Super Ad Bowl 2005: Super Bowl advertising will be critiqued and ranked by Olin School of Business MBA students, faculty and local advertising professionals during the game on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 5:00 p.m.

NeumanShula Neuman, an award-winning National Public Radio journalist, has been appointed director of News and Information for the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, effective Jan. 10. As a member of the university’s Public Affairs staff, she will develop and execute public information strategies for the Olin School and other business-related programs. Neuman comes to Washington University from WCPN-FM, a National Public Radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, where she had been a reporter and producer since May 2002.

From helping start-up companies grow into strong businesses to guiding inventors as they obtain patents, students in the Washington University School of Law’s new Intellectual Property and Business Formation Legal Clinic, working under the supervision of experienced intellectual property law attorneys, will offer a variety of services to the University and St. Louis community.

SwinkelsWashington University in St. Louis business professor Jeroen Swinkels, August A. Busch, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Managerial Economics and Strategy at the Olin School of Business, was elected a fellow of the Econometric Society in December 2004. With a worldwide membership, the Econometric Society is the most prestigious society in the field of economics. Over the past decade, only about 15 candidates per year have been elected as new fellows.

VeechTylenol, Bridgestone Firestone, Columbine High School, Exxon, McDonald’s, United Airlines, American Airlines — all of these organizations have been hit by a major crisis. Companies never know when they might be struck by a terrorist attack, a major product recall as a result of deaths or injury, workplace violence, a fire or explosion, a nasty scandal or sudden death of the company’s leader. In today’s media climate, any small or large organization can land on the front page of the daily newspaper or the six o’clock TV news before the dust has hit the ground. Business managers need to be prepared for such an eventuality with a detailed crises communication plan, says Annette Veech, senior lecturer of business communications at the Olin School of Business at Washington University.

Executive pay is sometimes appropriate, often not.In a perfect business world, corporate governance and decision-making would follow sound and rational processes. And, indeed, Professor Todd Milbourn has discovered that, at times, executives are compensated appropriately and appropriate decisions are taken. This finding is from what he calls the “bright side” of his research. But, the real world can also serve up Disneys, Enrons, and WorldComs. Not all mismanagement, however, makes the front pages or drives companies into bankruptcy. More commonly it goes on unnoticed or as accepted practice, says Milbourn, associate professor of finance at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. His collaborative research also reveals a “dark side,” where companies reward chief executive officers simply for being lucky and where “yes men” often rule.

The right pricing strategy can keep the cash register full.Determining the right pricing strategy can make or break the overall profitability of a firm, especially during the all-important December holiday season. One such strategy, dynamic pricing, long practiced in the airline and hotel industries, is showing promise and profitability in the world of retail. When applied to products sold over a short sales season — new toys, skiwear, and the like — dynamic pricing can boost profits for a firm, say two professors of the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.

The John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis on Dec. 2 awarded a total of $70,000 in seed investment capital to two startup businesses in its annual Olin Cup entrepreneurship competition. The Olin Cup, along with $50,000 in seed money, went to Luminomics, a biotechnology company that develops regenerative drug therapies for degenerative diseases. An award of $20,000 went to The Blessing Basket, a not-for-profit company that imports baskets made by weavers in undeveloped countries. Honorable mention was given to Core Devices, maker of a portable anesthesia machine.