Olin Business School

Faculty and graduate students from St. Louis-area universities with an interest in topics relating to labor, households, health care, law and social welfare are being invited to take part in a series of Monday brown-bag luncheon seminars to be held biweekly through April at Washington University. Now in its ninth year, the “Work, Families and […]

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.

The Washington University Center for the Study of Ethics & Human Values will sponsor a symposium on tort reform and medical malpractice from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 22 in Whitaker Hall. The symposium, titled “Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform: Finding Truth and Common Ground,” is free and open to the public.

MLK delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech.”Be The Change” is the theme of the University’s annual Commemoration Celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday at 7 p.m., Jan. 17 in Graham Chapel. The celebration is free and open to the public. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will begin the program with a welcome and remarks. The evening will include performances by Vashon High School’s drumline, the YMCA Boys Choir, the University’s Vision Gospel Choir and Black Anthology, as well as testimonials from University students.

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.

“Be the Change” is the theme of the University’s annual celebration honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 in Graham Chapel. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will begin the program with a welcome and remarks. The evening will include performances by Vashon High School’s drum line, the YMCA Boys Choir, the University’s Vision […]

The Olin School of Business awarded a total of $70,000 in seed investment capital to two startup businesses.

For Bart Hamilton, it’s all about the questions. It’s the quest for answers that drives Hamilton, the Robert Brookings Smith Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurship for the Olin School of Business, to teach, research and mentor. A professor of economics, management and entrepreneurship at Olin School since 1996, Hamilton jams his time between classes with researching, mentoring students and junior faculty, and taking care of his 11-month-old twins, Bogdan and Nina. “I love doing research. I come to work every day challenged,” Hamilton says. “This is the best job in the world.”

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.