Business & Entrepreneurship

In the wake of civil rights and social justice issues that have emerged following the death of African-American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, the fall 2014 Washington University in St. Louis Assembly Series will feature presentations by several eminent civil rights scholars and authors, including NAACP executive Sherrilyn Ifill.

Olin Business School and the Human Rights Campaign — the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans — hosted an LGBT Workplace Inclusion Conference at Washington University in St. Louis on Aug. 14.

You do get a second chance to make a first impression, thanks to the fact that any given day is full of firsts: First day of school, first day on the job, first day back after vacation. That’s the finding of a new study on forming impressions led by Robyn A. LeBoeuf, PhD, associate professor of marketing at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. “By connecting an everyday experience to a first – even an unrelated first – you can turn that experience into a first experience,” LeBoeuf said.

Women tend to outperform men when it comes to collaboration and creativity in small working groups, but force teams to go head to head in highly competitive environments and the benefits of a female approach are soon reversed, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

​The CNBC RQ50 ranking is based on the research quotient (RQ), developed by Anne Marie Knott, PhD, professor of strategy at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School. RQ is a measure of firms’ research and development (R&D) productivity. It captures the expected increase in revenue from a 1 percent increase in R&D.​​​

Olin Business School and the Human Rights Campaign — the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans — will host an LGBT Workplace Inclusion Conference from 8:30 a.m.-noon Thursday, Aug. 14. The conference will take place in Bauer Hall, Room 240.​

The United States has the highest corporate income tax rate in the developed world. As a result, many U.S. companies are turning to tax inversions — reincorporating overseas by getting acquired by a smaller company in a country where the corporate tax rate is lower. Adam Rosenzweig, JD, professor of law and expert on international tax, examines why inversions are becoming so popular.

A bill introduced July 28 in the U.S. House of Representatives would amend the controlled substances act – the federal law that criminalizes marijuana – to exempt plants with an extremely low level of THC, the part of marijuana that makes users high. Following closely on the heels of a call by the New York Times editorial board for the federal government to legalize marijuana, this could mark a turning point of sorts in the campaign for legalization. Gregory P. Magarian, professor of law, sees two reasons for leaving states with some power over the criminal law of marijuana.

The Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, in partnership with 2U Inc., has announced the launch of a new, fully online Master of Legal Studies (MLS) degree. The new degree is designed for non-lawyers seeking to expand their career opportunities by gaining an in-depth understanding of the U.S. legal system. The MLS curriculum will provide students with a solid foundation in legal analysis and the practical applications of the law, furthering their ability to think and communicate critically across a range of industries and professions.

While tight budgets are constraining regulatory spending at many federal agencies, those that garner funding from industry fees are using these revenue streams to fund substantial increases in regulatory programs and staffing, according to an annual report that examines the U.S. budget. The report was released by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis and the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center.