Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category
Monday, May 20th, 2013
Recently, on the Twin Cities blog, Leadership and Community, Janine Fugate shared some thoughts on how we look at nonprofit business. She mentioned a TEDTalk by Dan Pallotta, “The way we think about charity is dead wrong.” We asked Ann Johnson, director of UST’s Center for Nonprofit Management to share her thoughts on the topic.
Fugate wrote: I hope there will be greater awareness of what it actually takes to run a nonprofit organization and the importance of funding a nonprofit organization’s “overhead”. I believe this is critical to helping our donors and supporters shift their measurement focus from financial efficiency measures alone to overall organizational impact and social change.
The restrictions nonprofits must follow to raise funds and the (arbitrarily) set percentage for “reasonable” operating costs, are prohibitive. Any one metric used to assess a comprehensive value proposition for nonprofit impact would be an over simplification. Even in the business sector, ROI isn’t the only metric use to measure success. As “conscientious capitalism” continues to evolve, social responsibility is being measured in terms of profit and purpose and consumers are much more actively engaged in and using their purchase power to make decisions that include both. (more…)
Tags: Center for Nonprofit Management, conscientious capitalism, dan pallotta, leadership and community, Nonprofit, overhead, ted
Posted in Centers, Commentary | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
The Full-time UST MBA Class of 2013
As another academic year comes to a close, Dean Christopher Puto takes a moment to reflect.
Perhaps the most motivating members of our student body are the military veterans who have chosen to earn their degrees after they complete active duty. Whether they choose to begin or continue an undergraduate business degree or pursue an M.B.A. or other graduate business degree, these individuals bring a wealth of experience, deeply held convictions and a great sense of responsibility to their studies. They also bring perspective. Most of the veterans in our programs have seen active duty overseas, have witnessed events that few of us ever will, and that few of us wish to dwell on, frankly. These types of experiences allow veterans to understand that the world of business is just one part of the world and that it should serve a greater good. This understanding is what makes them leaders.
Read more in B. Magazine
Tags: B. Magazine, Christopher Puto, military, service, veteran
Posted in Alumni, Commentary, EveningMBA, FTMBA | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
There’s a policy adage that proclaims the world is run by those who show up. In a social media influenced world, it is becoming more about those who “write it up,” regardless of the truth.
Recently an “admirer” of Joel Olsteen from Minneapolis admitted to creating an elaborate Internet persona of the evangelist only to make false claims on his behalf, some of which were published in legitimate media before being debunked. One wonders if the editors at the duped media bothered to apply even a gut test of the claims before running the stories.
The ease with which some social media platforms allow anyone to develop content under assumed identity leads to the potential for great abuse – whether in the name of admiration or something more sinister. (more…)
Tags: truth
Posted in Commentary, social media, UST MBC | Comments Off
Monday, April 22nd, 2013
After 10 years living and working in New York City, last year I relocated back to the Twin Cities and discovered that something wonderful had happened while I was gone: Minnesota got itself some swagger.
Almost as much as our “Minnesota nice” culture, the state’s residents are known for being “Minnesota modest.” Arrogance doesn’t fit with our Scandinavian roots; flashiness is impossible when there’s a foot of snow beneath your stilettos.
Many of us locals have always known that Minnesota boasted some of the most innovative and creative companies in the country. In recent months, however, all this Midwestern work ethic has started to get some national attention. (more…)
Tags: Carmichael Lynch Spong, Emily Buchanan, Minnesota nice, pr week
Posted in Alumni, Commentary, Local business, UST MBC | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013
The European Union is once again facing a significant financial crisis as Cyprus has pushed Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain from the headlines. How can such a small country – with fewer than one million citizens – have such a large impact on the global economy? The answer is complicated, much like the March 25 bailout agreement between the troika – the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank (ECB).
The agreement with the Cypriot government paves way for Cyprus to receive a €10 billion bailout. In return, Cyprus has agreed to downsize its large financial sector and undertake a macroeconomic adjustment program that will require fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and privatizations (among other concessions). In return, the ECB will continue to provide emergency liquidity assistance to Cyprus banks.
Read the rest of this post in the UST Newsroom…
Lalith Samarakoon is professor and chair of the Department of Finance in the Opus College of Business. As a financial economist, Samarakoon has two decades of advisory experience in financial sector reforms and development, and public debt management. He teaches Global Finance Issues and Policy: Eurozone Debt Crisis.
Tags: cyprus, debt, finance, Lalith Samarakoon
Posted in Commentary, Faculty, Global Business | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is taking a lot of heat from the recent comments she made on 60 Minutes about the role of husbands vs. wives in a two-career household.
For one, she thinks that women should be doing more at work and making their husbands do more of the childcare and housework at home. And with that, women should also take more responsibility for their career success.
“Everyone knows that marriage is the biggest personal decision you make, but it’s the biggest career decision you can make,” Sandberg said. “Partner with the right person because you cannot have a full career and a full life at home with the children if you are also doing all the housework and childcare.”
So what is so controversial in our society with having a husband that is the primary household manager, child-raiser, laundry-doer, and house cleaner? (more…)
Tags: Carmichael Lynch Spong, Emily Buchanan, sandberg
Posted in Alumni, Commentary, UST MBC | Comments Off
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
During the last month, people in my household were treated as property by service providers a couple of times, based on the assumption by corporations managing service businesses that all current customers “belong” to the business.
Case in point, the hair stylist my wife has followed from salon to salon since 1998, Sheila. Just before my wife’s last scheduled appointment at a major department store salon, a receptionist called to confirm her appointment with another stylist. Upon inquiry, the salon contact refused to explain how to find Sheila. Upon finding Sheila through other means, we learned that the salon also refused to provide any list of the customers that had followed her to the salon, as “those customers belong to us.” Really? My wife would beg to differ. (more…)
Tags: commodity, competition, corporation, customer service
Posted in Commentary, UST MBC | Comments Off
Friday, March 15th, 2013
This post is by LaBarre Spence, a Career Specialist in the Graduate Business Career Services office.
![whatget01[1]](http://blogs.stthomas.edu/opusmagnum/files/2013/03/whatget011-625x467.jpg)
If you’ve wondered how your “soft skills” compare to other business people, GMAC, the Graduate Management Admissions Council, is offering an assessment called Reflect. It is designed to help you understand your leadership strengths and areas of opportunity. Reflect is the result of business schools asking GMAC for assistance in assessing soft skills and providing recommendations for management development. It’s definitely worth a look. You usually don’t have access to such a complete and valuable assessment unless you’re in a formal leadership development program. And, you don’t need a facilitator or coach to help you. (more…)
Tags: assessment, GMAC, gmat, reflect, test
Posted in Career Services, Commentary | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013
This post by Jessica Bauer, a Career Specialist in the Graduate Business Career Services office, originally appeared on the Career Link Blog.
To show knowledge of the company you hope to obtain employment with, research is key. While knowing their mission statement is a great start, the research should venture much farther than that. Interviewers expect that research of the company has been completed, but in most cases, research of the interviewer themselves should also be done.
Here are a few sure fire ways to get the most from your research: (more…)
Tags: interview, linkedin, preparation, prepare, research
Posted in Career Services, Commentary | Comments Off
Monday, March 11th, 2013
By Teresa Rothausen-Vange, Ph.D., Professor of Management and Susan E. Heckler Endowed Chair in Business Administration
The presence of female and minority leaders in America today has some people thinking that gender and racial/ethnic identity no longer matter in business and society today. In fact, these issues have just become muted and difficult to talk about due to political correctness and fear. Who benefits from this? Not most Americans of color, not most white Americans, not men, not women, and certainly not children.
If you want an example of how powerful gender norms still are, and how our society lashes out when people violate them in the business world, check out this post on Salon about the negative reaction to the new book by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead,” out today. (more…)
Tags: book, diversity, facebook, gender, lean in, Teresa Rothausen-Vange
Posted in Commentary, Ethics, Faculty | 1 Comment »
Is Overhead the best KPI for Nonprofits?
Monday, May 20th, 2013Recently, on the Twin Cities blog, Leadership and Community, Janine Fugate shared some thoughts on how we look at nonprofit business. She mentioned a TEDTalk by Dan Pallotta, “The way we think about charity is dead wrong.” We asked Ann Johnson, director of UST’s Center for Nonprofit Management to share her thoughts on the topic.
The restrictions nonprofits must follow to raise funds and the (arbitrarily) set percentage for “reasonable” operating costs, are prohibitive. Any one metric used to assess a comprehensive value proposition for nonprofit impact would be an over simplification. Even in the business sector, ROI isn’t the only metric use to measure success. As “conscientious capitalism” continues to evolve, social responsibility is being measured in terms of profit and purpose and consumers are much more actively engaged in and using their purchase power to make decisions that include both. (more…)
Tags: Center for Nonprofit Management, conscientious capitalism, dan pallotta, leadership and community, Nonprofit, overhead, ted
Posted in Centers, Commentary | No Comments »