Olin Business School

The International Business Outlook Conference will include presentations on topics ranging from the global supply chain to business in China.

Amar Cheema’s paper addresses how individuals manipulate “mental accounts” to justify consumption and spending decisions.

A daylong conference on April 20 exploring the international business environment will feature the Rt Hon John Major CH, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as one of its keynote speakers. MBA students in the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis organized the annual International Business Outlook Conference (IBOC), which includes presentations on topics ranging from the global supply chain to business in China. The conference starts at 7 a.m. Mr. Major’s addresses the meeting at 3 p.m. with media availability from 2:15 to 2:45 p.m. The conference takes place at the Charles F. Knight Center for Executive Education on the Washington University campus.

With trade barriers decreasing and outsourcing becoming a common practice even for white-collar workers, every business—no matter the size – has been affected by globalization. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that American companies have to react intelligently to this reality, but instead of trying to respond on their own, many companies are turning to experts and researchers in the field

Good team work means not trusting each other too much.There’s no denying that trust is essential in a healthy work place. It’s expected that you trust your co-workers and your boss. And you hope that your boss and peers trust you. Common wisdom is that trust brings numerous benefits: it improves communication, raises group performance, reduces conflict, and provides greater job satisfaction. However, a recent study by a professor at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis found that too much trust could actually be bad for business…when it comes to working on team projects.

Stock options or pure stock — what’s the trade-off?In recent years, the practice of motivating CEOs and managers with stock options rather than pure stock has been linked to corruption and fraud. But companies shouldn’t fear the option, according to two professors in the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. Moving away from stock options as a way to reward good work may be a bad business move. The professors argue that in most cases stock options provide better incentives to motivate employees and they’re less expensive for the company to issue. At the same time, the researchers found that if a company is just starting out or facing possible bankruptcy, then stocks are your best bet.

It’s tax-time. For many people that means handing some hard-earned money over to Uncle Sam. But for others tax time is refund time. Theoretically, that refund is money you’ve earned as a part of your salary, and should be accounted for and spent like regular income. However, most people view it as “found money” and generally find a way to justify spending it on something they didn’t necessarily need. According to a professor of marketing at the Olin School of Business, people mentally credit their refunds to specific budgetary accounts to justify spending it on desirable luxuries. The result is people end up spending too much, making it harder to pay other, more essential accounts.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is rated the third best medical school in the nation, according to this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings of graduate and professional programs released April 1.

Photo by Mary ButkusDean Stuart I. Greenbaum visits with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez after the latter spoke at the Olin School of Business.

With the latest news that Hewlett Packard has dubbed Mark Hurd as its new CEO, I wanted to make you aware of the expertise Professor Todd Zenger, the Robert and Barbara Frick Professor of Business Strategy at Washington University in St. Louis, has on Hewlett Packard’s success and failures over the years. Zenger has had […]