EFMD Annual Conference 2014: Plenary III – Financial Models for Educational Institutions

Thomas Estermann began by talking about trends in finance in higher education. According to Mr. Estermann, performance based funding is now widely used but there are different ideas on what exactly the performance should be. The number of Bachelor and Masters Students is very important, as is the number of international students. What happens if the indicators change, especially if more than 50% of funding comes from public funds? Usually the indicators remain stable and there is also a dialogue between the different actors before they are changed.

Al Kanji, Senior Partner, KPMG, Vancouver talks to GEM & SFU students about finance during Innovation Business Week

KPMG Corporate Finance, British Columbia’s largest employer and recruiter of business school students, hosted a conference in their Vancouver headquarters. The speech was given by Al Kanji, a senior partner. Also present were his two partners Jocelyn Cruickshank and Marco Tomassetti. The conference was given to 30 students of the Grenoble Ecole de Management, in GEM’s Transcontinental Track in Vancouver, as well as 10 students of Simon Fraser University, to give them an insight on his practice’s strategy and corporate culture, as well as a brief overview of the British Columbian economy.

Managing an international career in the finance industry: Marianne Schenk, Director of Talent Management, Credit Suisse, New York gives her advice to newly arrived students.

Speaking at the opening of the “Finance in New York” Transcontinental Programme, Marianne Schenk, Director of Talent Management at Credit Suisse, New York, gave some key insights into how the newly arrived students should think about managing a career in the finance industry. With 23 years of experience of working in the Zurich based financial services firm, Ms. Schenk was able to share her knowledge of working in a highly international and fast moving context on both sides of the Atlantic. 

PETER DRUCKER FORUM 2013: “Complexity – Looking at the world though different lenses” by Don Tapscott

  

Don Tapscott (CA) was told by his second grade teacher that he would never graduate from high school. Nowadays Don is one of the world’s leading authorities on innovation, media, and the economic and social impact of technology. In 2011 Thinkers50 named Don as one of the world’s most influential management thinkers. He has authored or co-authored 14 widely read books including Paradigm Shift, The Digital Economy, Growing Up Digital, Digital Capital, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything and Macrowikinomics: New Solutions for a Connected Planet. His work continues as a the Chairman of Moxie Insight, a member of World Economic Forum, Chancellor of Trent University, Adjunct Professor of Management for the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and Martin Prosperity Institute Fellow.

BOOK REVIEW: “How Countries Compete: Strategy, Structure, and Government in the Global Economy” by Richard Vietor (2007)

How Countries Compete is a political and economic strategic analysis of 11 different countries around the world.  The book is divided into 12 new chapters, which deal with one country per chapter.  Japan is dealt with twice, looking at it from a historical perspective at the beginning of the book, and then looking more towards the future and there after the pre 1990 crisis.  Richard Vietor uses the word “compete” in the sense that countries try to compete for market share in the world economy and gain foreign investment and export their sales in business.  Governments can help in this policy, either by macroeconomic policies that encourage investment and greater economic activity, or by things like increasing human resource competencies through education.  Some countries have very active and direct policies.  In China, for example, technology transfer and know-how has been encouraged through the use of FDI.  In Singapore, workers are required to save as much as 50% of their gross income for their retirement plan.

BOOK REVIEW: “Concise Guide to Macroeconomics: What Managers, Executives, and Students Need to Know” by David A. Moss (2007)

“A Concise Guide to Macroeconomics” is an introduction to some of the main concepts and theories around the discipline.  It centers on three basic pillars: output, money, and expectations.  The book is essentially designed for managers and executives who may not be familiar with the main theories of macroeconomics.  David Moss uses considerable experience he has gained, teaching at Harvard Business School, and particularly on executive education programs, to bring some complex issues to the reader in a very simple way.

“Innovative and dynamic employees required.” Navir Rustomfram-Shukla, A GEM Alumnus (MIB ’09) talks about his work at Airbus.

Navir Rustomfram-Shukla, a recent alumnus from Grenoble Ecole de Management, is presently working at Airbus as a financial controller. He had previously studied at the University of Mumbai in India and graduated in Economics before veering off into business.

BOOK REVIEW: “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea” by Mark Blyth (2013)

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.