BOOK REVIEW: “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea” by Mark Blyth

Success often depends on timing. Though Mr Blyth has been working on this book for two years, its launch seems to have come at a very appropriate moment. After several years of austerity measures, public opinion in countries across the world is becoming more critical on the cutbacks their governments have brought in to reduce their deficits. Adding to that is the discovery that Reinhart and Rogoff’s models, the theoretical underpinning of these policies, were erroneous. This is a well researched and well argued book and the title, “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea”, will give you a clear indication of where the author stands. 

Professors (and other experts) getting it wrong : The Reinhart and Rogoff spreadsheet error

So, two of the most prominent and respected professors of finance in the world got it wrong! There are several interesting aspects to the Reinhart and Rogoff spreadsheet error saga and many commentators have jumped in to criticise their work now that we know they omitted out five countries. Perhaps the one thing that has not been said is that they had the good grace, open mindedness  and humility to send their data to a graduate student that they had never met and wasn’t even a student at either of their universities. Professors do get it wrong, as do all human beings, but good ones are open to analysis and criticisms from others.

 

BOOK REVIEW : “This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly” by Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff (2011)

A few weeks ago this book would have been read quickly, given an A+ with a little gold star and a request from the teacher for a “Show and Tell” from two of her best pupils. Thomas Herdon, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst has dented the myth though by identifying the errors in their calculation. This has coincided with increasing criticisms of the current policies even in academic circles. Mark Blyth at Brown University has just published “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea.” In this context, “This Time is Different” is certainly worth another critical read.

Photo of the week : Grenoble EM on the NASDAQ

I have a wonderful colleague, Lisa Jane Perraud, who works for the Careers Service at my school and has done great job over the past few years. However, this week even she has surpassed herself with this photo! She is currently in New York with 25 students from my school that are studying finance. Lisa Jane has been working extremely hard over the past 2 months to organize a marathon week of company visits (the students will have had 13 in a week!)

Gems on Wall Street: Students studying finance in the heart of New York

I want to use this post to publicize a blog that is being written by some 25 students from my school, who are currently studying finance in New York.  The students have gone up there for one semester to study a program that we jointly set up with Pace University to give them the ins and outs of finance in the USA, and also to show them some of the best practices of working in the United States. 

AACSB Associate Deans Conference 2012: The Many Faces of the Associate Dean

The Many Faces of the Associate Dean: Working with Diverse Stakeholders

   

At the AACSB Associate Deans Conference 2012, Dawn Hukai, Associate Dean at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Susan Laurenson, Associate Dean at The University of Auckland Business School and David J. Urban, Executive Associate Dean, at Virginia Commonwealth University discuss the many roles of an Associate Dean.

AACSB Associate Deans Conference: Executive Education: Developing Non-Degree Education for the Future (Brent Smith)

Standard 14 of the proposed new criteria for AASCB Accreditation deals with the provision of Executive Education. Given the importance of this activity in many business schools today, it is useful to look at some of the best practices in the industry.

At the AACSB Associate Deans Conference, Brent Smith, Associate Dean, Executive Education and Associate Professor, Management and Psychology, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University, set out some of the issues at his own university.

According to Mr. Smith the market is increasingly crowded and it is therefore vital that business schools fully understand their competitive positioning as well as the role of executive education as vehicle to advance the overall strategy of the school.

AACSB Associate Deans Conference: Leading in Challenging Economic Times by Karyl B. Leggio

Leading in Challenging Economic Times

    

At the AACSB Associate Deans conference, Karyl Leggio, Dean and Professor of Finance at the Sellinger School of Business at Loyola University Maryland, led a fascinating discussion on the issues in setting up new programs. The topic of the presentation was centered around generating revenues and “managing costs by benefitting from revenue sharing initiatives.” Given that we are now into the fifth year of the financial crisis with no easy end in sight, this is an important subject to address.

AACSB Associate Deans Conference 2012: Lessons from Change in Business Schools

Reflections and lessons from change in Business Schools: What is next?

One of the opening sessions of the AACSB Conference for Associate Deans Conference brought together panelists from 4  business schools; Latha Ramchand, Dean at the University of Houston, Lynne Richardson, Dean at the University of Mary Washington, Deborah Spake, Associate Dean at the University of Alabama and Kristie Oglivie, Interim Associate Dean at California State University. The Panel was chaired by Susan McTiernan, Associate Dean at Quinnipiac University and Vice Chair of the Associate Deans Affinity Group.

Here are some of the remarks from the panel.

BOOK REVIEW: “The Halo Effect” by Phil Rosenzweig (2009)

The Halo Effect gives an excellent insight in to how we make judgments about people, organizations and strategy. It is a must read for any manager or strategy student.