Business & Entrepreneurship

Chinese search engine conglomerate Baidu Inc. leads the pack in a new ranking of the 50 most innovative companies in the world. The 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.

New Washington University students interested in entrepreneurship can get their feet wet before classes even begin. The IDEA program, from the Skandarlis Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, introduces students to the university’s entreprenuerial ecosystem, allowing incoming students to connect with each other and with upperclassmen during a weeklong orientation program.

The Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Work and Social Capital at Washington University School of Law is sponsoring the “Black Sexual Economies: Transforming Black Sexualities Research”conference Sept. 27-28 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University’s School of Law will host the International Law Weekend – Midwest Regional conference Sept. 19-21. The theme for this year’s conference is “The Legal Challenges of Globalization: A View from the Heartland” and the panels presented at this conference will address a broad range of topics, emphasizing the impact of international law and globalization on the Midwest.

For many firms, losing significant revenue and profit to employee theft has been a cost of doing business. But a new study from Washington University in St. Louis finds that information technology monitoring is strikingly effective in reducing theft and fraud, especially in the restaurant industry.

Faculty and graduate students from St. Louis-area universities with an interest in labor, households, health care, law and social welfare are invited to take part in the continuing series of Monday brown-bag luncheon seminars held biweekly on the Danforth Campus beginning Monday, Sept. 9, and running through Dec. 2. All lectures take place at noon in Seigle Hall, Room 348. The series begins with a lecture by Derek Neal, PhD, professor in economics at the University of Chicago titled “Designing Accountability Systems and Incentives Schemes for Educators.”

Donald B. Verrilli Jr., the 46th solicitor general of the United States, will deliver the 2013–14 Tyrrell Williams Lecture at 4 p.m. Sept. 9 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom (AB Hall, No. 310). He will speak on “The Solicitor General and Civil Rights Law: Historical Perspectives. Read more about Solicitor General Verrilli and RSVP for the event here.

​Created 60 years ago, the Assembly Series is Washington University’s premiere lecture series. Its chief mission is to present interesting and important voices, and it is designed to spark meaningful discussion and lead to greater understanding of our world today. Assembly Series programs are free and open to the public. The fall 2013 schedule, below, opens with First Year Reading Program author Eula Biss on September 9.​​​

As encrypted email services like Lavabit shut their doors, the importance of email privacy becomes even more clear writes Neil Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, in a recent CNN opinion piece.

A recent report from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor indicates that there are significantly fewer female entrepreneurs than male entrepreneurs around the world. This is not the case, however, at Washington University in St. Louis, where more than 40 percent of successful companies started by recent graduates through the university’s business entrepreneurship courses have been founded by women.