Olin Business School

Photo by Mary ButkusMahendra Gupta was recently installed as the inaugural Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor in Accounting and Management.

Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin School of Business will get a Ding September 30 — and that’s good news. A Ding is part of a set of ceremonial bronze vessels, which historically came in a variety of shapes and were used for carrying food and wine. The Ding that the Olin School of Business will receive is five feet tall, four feet in diameter, and weighs 1500 pounds. The gift is a reproduction of the Da Ke Ding from King Xiao’s reign in the 10th Century B.C., which resides in the Shanghai Museum. The EMBA-Shanghai alumni are donating the Ding as a symbol of the strong ties they have to Washington University. The dedication takes place at 5 p.m. on Sept. 30 in the Knight Center courtyard on the Washington University Hilltop campus.

An inaugural event Sept. 8 featured a talk with Joe Edwards, owner and developer numerous establishments in the Delmar Loop.

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Despite their money-grubbing reputation, MBA students have more than their future paychecks on their minds. Through both school and student-driven initiatives, the Olin School of Business continues to provide ample proof that it fosters community responsibility in its students. In addition to the array of activities the business school is organizing to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, business school students are working to strengthen the St. Louis community as well. On Saturday, Sept. 10, current MBA students, alumni, faculty and staff from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis are teaming up for the first annual Olin Serves Day.

Joe Angeles/WUSTL PhotoThe National Football League season has kicked off with a bang and once again, ticket prices are higher than ever. Fans who pay anywhere from $50 to $250 for a single ticket may grouse about the price, but Dan Elfenbein, a professor in the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, said football teams routinely under-price their tickets and online ticket scalpers are reaping the benefits.

Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at WUSTL launches the St. Louis Entrepreneurship Innovation Competition on Thursday, Sept 8 at 5 p.m. in Simon Hall featuring University City Loop entrepreneur, Joe Edwards. The competition is the first of its kind in the region. Participants with the best concepts will be awarded funding of $65,000.

How much are these seats really worth?That teams sell tickets at prices far lower than their market value may seem to contradict economic logic. On average people who buy NFL tickets from scalpers online pay more than 50 percent above a ticket’s face value. Markups are even higher in football-loving locales such as Green Bay and New England. Despite the disparity between face value and street value, a professor at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis says it actually makes sense that owners don’t jack up ticket prices even more.

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

In the global economy, running a business is especially risky when finance and operations are ignorant of the other’s business. The risk factors go beyond the usual challenges of matching supply and demand to include unanticipated commodity price shocks, volatile exchange rates, and unexpected supply disruptions as a result of forces beyond our controls, such as physical disasters and terrorist attacks. Rather than let companies discover the perils the hard way, Professor Panos Kouvelis of the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis is spearheading efforts in academia to create models of how finance and operations can work together to achieve maximum success.