GWBusiness Magazine Spring 2019

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BUSINESS SPRING 2019

Anuj Mehrotra A C ATA LY S T F O R C H A N G E

SPRING 2019 THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

F E AT U R E S

DEPA RTM E NT S

11 From a Startup in the Garage to a Global Contender

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2 Message from the Dean 4 GWSB News Briefs

Business Research Equals Real World Research

24 Alumni Profiles: Lynda Peralta

ANUJ MEHROTRA

34 Alumni Profiles: David Burt

A CATALYST F OR C HA NGE

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GWSB Women Score on the Business Side of Sports

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Undergraduate Student Organizations: All Business

Editor in Chief Dan Michaelis Copy Editor Mary A. Dempsey Contributing Writers Mary A. Dempsey John Forrer D. Christopher Kayes Sarah Lyon Dan Michaelis Melissa Nyman Jorge Rivera Photographers William Atkins Abby Greenawalt

Design GW Marketing and Creative Services GWBusiness magazine is published annually by the George Washington University School of Business Comments and letters are welcomed.

Please direct all correspondence to: GWBusiness 2201 G Street, NW Funger Hall 217 Washington, DC 20052 or: dmichaelis@gwu.edu

President Thomas LeBlanc Dean Anuj Mehrotra Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives Vivek Choudhury Associate Dean for Executive Education George M. Jabbour Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Leo Moersen

Associate Dean for Faculty Research Vanessa Perry Associate Dean for Graduate Programs Liesl Riddle Assistant Dean for Recruitment and Admissions Jeff Hunter Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs Cara Richards

business.gwu.edu | 1

Message from the Dean

DR. ANUJ MEHROTRA “ As the rapid rate of change and development in the business world accelerates, demanding continual workforce retraining, I believe our commitment to lifelong learning will allow GWSB to truly stand out among its peer institutions.�

2 | GWSB Spring 2019

Dear GWSB Community, As I finish up my first academic year as dean of the George Washington University School of Business, it gives me great pleasure to kickoff the 2019 issue of GWBusiness magazine. It’s been a busy and very productive year, some of the highlights of which are in these pages.

Since joining the GWSB family last summer, I have focused on putting students’ interests first in all that we do. I am happy to say that our faculty, staff—and alumni— have embraced this philosophy wholeheartedly. Guided by this principle, we have accomplished much in making GWSB the type of educational institution of which we can all be proud.

Working closely with all stakeholders, we have made significant, positive changes at the school, reimagining our suite of graduate programs to provide students with the education they need, in a format and timeline of their choosing. Initiatives include: an accelerated part-time MBA program, promoting 4+1 programs that allow our undergraduate students to take and double-count nine credits toward their fouryear degree and a master’s degree, expanded online offerings, and customizable master’s degrees based " In this issue of on “stackable” graduate certificate programs that GWBusiness you’ll provide a glide path to our MBA. A major part of our motivation for these changes was to make post-graduate continuing education available, accessible and convenient. As the rapid rate of change and development in the business world accelerates, demanding continual workforce retraining, I believe our commitment to lifelong learning will allow GWSB to truly stand out among its peer institutions.

read about some of our accomplished alumni, the excellent academic research being done at GWSB, and our remarkable undergraduate student organizations."

We also added a new vehicle to communicate with the GWSB Community—and the world at large—“George Talks Business,” a weekly interview series featuring leading figures from the business world. The sessions, which kicked off in January, have been drawing enthusiastic live and online audiences.

What hasn’t changed at GWSB is our justifiable pride in our students, faculty, staff and graduates—and our school spirit. In this issue of GWBusiness, you’ll read about some of our accomplished alumni, the excellent academic research being done at GWSB and our remarkable undergraduate student organizations.

GWSB INITIATIVES PROGRAM FLEXIBILITY ACCELERATED PART-TIME MBA PROGRAM 4+1 PROGRAMS DOUBLE-COUNTS NINE CREDITS TOWARD FOUR-YEAR DEGREE & MASTER’S DEGREE EXPANDED ONLINE OFFERINGS CUSTOMIZABLE MASTER’S DEGREES BASED ON “STACKABLE” GRADUATE CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

ENGAGING THE GWSB COMMUNITY GEORGE TALKS BUSINESS WEEKLY INTERVIEW SERIES FEATURING LEADING FIGURES FROM THE BUSINESS WORLD

I hope you enjoy it. Drop us a line and let us know what you think.

All the best,

Anuj Mehrotra, PhD Dean The George Washington University School of Business

business.gwu.edu | 3

GWSB NEWS BRIEFS

GWSB Dean Anuj Mehrotra welcomes Fosun Foundation representatives to Washington, D.C.

Entrepreneurship

Partnering in Support of Student Entrepreneurship Representatives from the Fosun Foundation visited campus during the fall semester to meet with GWSB Dean Anuj Mehrotra and Lex McCusker, GW director of Student Entrepreneurship Programs, to discuss ongoing and future collaborative efforts among Fosun, GW and GWSB. Fosun is a major financial and organizational sponsor of GW’s annual New Venture Competition.

The Fosun Foundation is the philanthropic component of Fosun,

a leading industrial group founded in Shanghai in 1992 by five graduates of Fudan University. With offices worldwide, Fosun is committed to supporting global education, fostering student startups and social entrepreneurship, and nurturing the next generation of leaders.

Fosun, GW and GWSB gave a joint presentation on their efforts for students, detailing current and planned entrepreneurial opportunities available to all GW students.

Earlier in 2018, the Fosun Foundation made a $300,000 donation to the GW New Venture Competition. The gift will fund the development of new programming for international students, such as workshops and mentoring. The financial support also will expand the prize pool for the annual competition and add new award categories, including recognition for the best venture by a team that includes at least two international students.

of Famer Cal Ripken, according to the program’s host, GWSB’s Mark Hyman, assistant teaching professor of management.

A long-time baseball journalist, Mr. Rosenthal regularly conducts interviews from the field as part of broadcasts of the World Series and All-Star games. He was part of the Fox Sports broadcast team for last season’s Red Sox-Dodgers World Series.

In addition to his duties at Fox Sports, Mr. Rosenthal is a baseball insider, appearing on the MLB Network, including the studio show “MLB Tonight.” He

contributes to MLB Network’s trade deadline and National Baseball Hall of Fame coverage, as well as the offseason weekday morning show “Hot Stove.”

Mr. Rosenthal is the national baseball writer for the online publication The Athletic. Earlier in his career, he was a baseball writer and columnist at The Baltimore Sun from 1987 to 2000. He also spent five years as senior baseball writer at Sporting News.

Event

‘A View from the Dugout’ Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports on-field baseball reporter and interviewer, visited the GW School of Business last fall for “A View from the Dugout,” an informal conversation and reflection on the 2018 Major League Baseball season and the business of baseball.

Mr. Rosenthal is well known for his in-depth and up-close coverage of the game.

So up-close that he once had his laptop smashed by a foul ball hit by Orioles’ Hall 4 | GWSB Spring 2019

EVENT

Tech Career Conference Last semester, GWSB hosted bTech, the Business of Technology conference, a student-led event designed by non-tech majors for peers who want to pursue a career in the tech industry.

Launched in 2017 by then GWSB senior Isaac Gritz, now a data insights consultant at Microsoft, the conference focuses on bringing alumni and recruiters from top technology firms to campus. This year, the bTech planning team included Alyssa Martindale, ESIA ’21, Allie Maier, CCAS ’19, and Ben Yoxall, ESIA ’19.

International

Professor Presents at China Tourism Conference Larry Yu, professor of hospitality management, recently traveled to China, where he took part in the 2018 World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) conference in Qingdao. At the three-day conference, Dr. Yu spoke on the topic of “enhancing city image through branding,” and moderated a session on city image and city branding.

“WTCF is a good platform for enhancing GWSB’s visibility globally as it involves tourism policy, tourism business and social impact on communities through tourism,” Dr. Yu said.

The event drew more than 400 representatives from 59 countries, 112 cities and more than 200 tourism/hospitality firms and international tourism organizations.

Dr. Yu has been a member of the WTCF’s Expert Committee since 2012.

According to Dr. Yu, city branding is a managerial process to help a city create a distinct and memorable image, which is cognitively and effectively identified by tourists. It offers cities a strategy for being authentic and differentiated from competing destinations. By converting the tangible and intangible assets of a city into a meaningful, unique and sustainable image, city branding can be used as a powerful image-building strategy for marketing and developing tourism cities, he said.

“BTech is an innovative student-led initiative that brings together students with employers and alumni from the technology industry,” said Irina Orlova, F. David Fowler Career Center (FDFCC) director of strategic student career planning. “It allows students to learn about business roles in the tech sector and keep up with the new career opportunities driven by advances in technology.”

The conference featured notable speakers, including Tom Manatos, vice president of government relations at Spotify; Gina Woodworth, director of U.S. public policy at

Snap; Danielle Gilliam-Moore, manager of federal government affairs at Salesforce; and a Microsoft company panel presentation from Abby Quinn and Roxy Ndebumandu. Other sessions included startups such as Social Driver, BTFD and Hatch Apps, and a recent GW alumni panel with representatives from Google, GoFish Digital, 2U and Edelman Digital.

Conference sponsors included GW Data, the GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, FDFCC and the GW Center for Career Services.

Faculty

GWSB Professor Presents at IMF/World Bank Group Meeting in Bali Danny Leipziger, managing director of the Growth Dialogue and professor of practice of international business, traveled to Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, where he attended the 2018 meeting of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG). The annual event brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private-sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss

issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development and aid effectiveness.

During the weeklong event, Dr. Leipziger served as moderator for a plenary session on the Belt and Roadway Initiative (BRI), China’s massive program of infrastructure investments in more than 70 countries.

The BRI has raised questions about the transparency of its terms, debt repayments and environmental standards.

Pictured with Dr. Leipziger (center), from left to right, are: David Dollar (Brookings Institution), Zou Jiayi (Chinese Ministry of Finance), Hoe Ee Khor (AMRO-Asean Research) and Caroline Freund (World Bank). business.gwu.edu | 5

GWSB NEWS BRIEFS Faculty

GWSB’s CREUA Leads New Orleans Redevelopment Planning In October, the Greater New Orleans Foundation released the “Spirit of Charity Innovation District Strategic Plan,” designed to rehabilitate the downtown New Orleans neighborhood surrounding the former Charity Hospital, an area yet to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. The development of the strategic plan was led

by Christopher Leinberger, Charles Bendit Distinguished Scholar and chairman of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis (CREUA), and Tracy Loh, CREUA senior data scientist. The plan is focused on developing the 110-acre area into a walkable urban place with 21st century knowledge economy employers.

Retirement

Longtime GWSB Professor Announces Retirement

AWARD

Dr. Lusardi Receives FINRA Honor Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Chair of Economics and Accountancy, and academic director of the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, received the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s 2018 Ketchum prize for outstanding service and research to advance investor protection and financial capability in the United States.

“More than any other individual, Annamaria Lusardi has focused global attention on the critical importance of financial capability in 21st century society,” said Gerri Walsh, president of the FINRA Foundation. “Her research has been enormously influential—not just among policymakers and academics but also among those who work every day to educate people of all backgrounds about the financial choices affecting their lives.”

“I feel so strongly about financial capability that I have made it my life’s work. I am delighted to receive the Ketchum Prize, not only because it acknowledges my work in a pioneering field but, more importantly, because it turns a spotlight on the critical importance of financial literacy. Just as the ability to read—literacy— is indispensable in our modern world, so, too, financial literacy is an essential tool for success,” Dr. Lusardi said.

The foundation’s prize is named for Richard “Rick” Ketchum, who retired as chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and chairman of the FINRA Foundation in 2016. Mr. Ketchum is admired for his distinguished leadership in the field of securities regulation over a career spanning three decades.

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Hossein Askari, Iran Professor of International Business and International Relations, retired from the George Washington University School of Business, at the end of the 2018 fall semester.

Dr. Askari came to GW in 1982. He taught at both GWSB, where he served as chairman of the International Business Department and director of the Institute of Global Management and Research, and at the Elliott School of International Affairs.

He will be granted joint emeritus status by the two GW schools upon his retirement.

“Dr. Askari has compiled a most impressive 35-year career at GW,” GWSB Dean Anuj Mehrotra said. “A worldrenowned expert on Middle East economic development, international trade and finance, and energy and agricultural economics, Dr. Askari is frequently quoted in the news media, earning some excellent free publicity for GWSB over the years!

“An outstanding researcher and dedicated teacher, Dr. Askari will be missed,” Dean

Mehrotra added. “On behalf of the entire GWSB community, I wish him all the best for a happy, healthy, rewarding and welldeserved retirement.”

Dr. Askari also served on the executive board of the International Monetary Fund, as a special adviser to the Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia and as a special diplomatic envoy between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait and Iran. He is the author of 29 books, more than 100 journal articles and book chapters, and more than 200 opinion pieces for such publications as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, as well as many others.

Prior to coming to GW from the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Askari taught at Wayne State University and Tufts University and was an instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor’s of science in civil engineering and a PhD in economics.

Event

Student-Organized Career Event Draws 400 Four hundred GWSB undergraduates took part in Ready, Set, Grow! 2018, a four-plus hour career conference that featured representatives from 35 leading companies, including 11 recruiters offering internship and job opportunities.

Ready, Set, Grow! was organized and run by the co-ed professional business fraternities Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi with the cooperation and support of 10 other student organizations. The students received additional guidance and logistical support from GWSB’s F. David Fowler Career Center, the GWSB Office of Events & Facilities Services and the GWSB Office of Undergraduate Programs.

The program featured panel presentations on different industry sectors and occupational specialties,

including accounting, consulting, data analytics, economics and development, finance, law and public policy, marketing and sports, and events and hospitality.

Dean Anuj Mehrotra formally launched the conference with a brief keynote speech. He congratulated the student organizers and thanked the GWSB faculty and staff members for their work in support of the event. During his remarks, Dean Mehrotra talked about the importance of communication, a theme he has stressed in his first semester as GWSB dean.

“Open, constant communication is the key to success. It’s the first step in making great things happen,” he said.

Competition

International

MBA Student Team Does GWSB Proud in Rutgers Case Competition

GWSB Dean Anuj Mehrotra meets with Chilean MBA students on their last night in Washington, D.C.

CLAI Hosts Chilean MBA Students GWSB’s Center for Latin American Issues (CLAI) hosted 63 MBA students from the University of Chile for the South American university’s capstone program. GWSB and CLAI have partnered with the University of Chile for this program since 2005.

The program ran for five days, with the group arriving on Sunday, Aug. 26, attending lectures Monday through Friday, and departing to return to Chile on Saturday, Sept. 1. The week was divided into three modules: corporate social responsibility (with former GWSB Professor Jennifer Griffin, visiting from Loyola University Chicago),

global strategies (with Anu Phene, Grub Distinguished Scholar and professor of international business), and international finance (with Scheherazade Rehman, professor of international business and finance). Each module was supplemented with a guest lecture or a visit, adding practical applications to the program’s theoretical classroom content.

Students visited the International Finance Corp. and heard guest lecturers from the World Cocoa Foundation and Marriott International.

Congratulations to “Team GWSB” — firstyear MBA students Paul Florentino, Olivia Grant and Drew Otto, and PMBA/MSPM joint degree student Nick Allsop—on earning an honorable mention in the Rutgers Biopharma MBA Case Competition held last semester. The competition tasked the student teams with developing a marketing strategy for a specialty medication that would offer an alternative to the coupon programs that insurance companies currently use. The biopharma industry is searching for a replacement for these coupons while still keeping the prescription affordable for patients.

With their fourth-place finish, the GWSB squad bested teams of MBA students from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Stern School Business, New York University; host Rutgers School of Business; McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University; S.C. Johnson College of Business, Cornell University; the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University; and Questrom School of Business, Boston University. In addition, GWSB’s Mr. Otto was named the competition’s “best individual presenter.”

GWSB STATS THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AMONG THE TOP 10 IN U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT’S 2019 RANKING UNDERGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PROGRAMS RANKED #6 IN U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT’S 2019 RANKING GWSB PROGRAM TIED FOR #6 UP 3 SPOTS FROM ITS #9 RANKING IN U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT’S 2018 RANKING “ This latest ranking is great news … We are proud that our international business program has earned the respect it deserves.

Congratulations to everyone involved: faculty, staff and students.”

— Leo Moersen, associate dean for undergraduate programs business.gwu.edu | 7

GWSB NEWS BRIEFS “ My focus was on the need for private sector leadership in the redevelopment of our cities and suburbs, not just relying upon the federal, state or local governments.”

Lecture

— Christopher Leinberger, Charles Bendit Distinguished Scholar and Research Professor; chair, Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis

Professor Leinberger Speaks at French Embassy on U.S. Private-Public Development Partnerships Christopher Leinberger, Charles Bendit Distinguished Scholar and chairman of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis, took part in a panel presentation at the French Embassy for mayors from the Paris metropolitan area and French real estate developers.

Professor Leinberger and his fellow panelists—Clarence Anthony, CEO and executive director, National League of Cities; Max Couchet, research analyst, Brookings Institute, Metropolitan Policy Program; and Mathew Chase, executive director, National Association of Counties—discussed the differences between private-

public real estate development partnerships in the United States and public-private partnerships in Europe.

“My focus was on the need for private sector leadership in the redevelopment of our cities and suburbs, not just relying upon the federal, state or local governments,” Professor Leinberger said.

Event

‘District Connect’ and ‘Last Call’ Tie for DC Climathon Win

“District Connect” and “Last Call,” two of the teams competing in the 2018 DC Climathon at GW, tied for first place in the annual event, splitting the top prize and each winning $4,000 in implementation funds.

The DC Climathon, hosted by the George Washington University, is part of a 24-hour global competition dedicated to addressing the pressing challenges 8 | GWSB Spring 2019

of climate change with innovative ideas and local and regional solutions. The competition takes place simultaneously in dozens of cities worldwide. GWSB MBA students played a key role in the D.C. section of the event, serving as “business consultants” for the teams.

Open to “developers, students, entrepreneurs, technical and non-technical experts,” the event featured significant participation by GW and GWSB students and alumni. GWSB alumna Erin McGoey, BBA Marketing ’18, was a member of the “Last Call” team.

This year’s challenge was “Hack Good Food Access.” Teams of “climate hackers” competed to develop the best solution

for local access to fresh, healthy food for vulnerable populations in the District of Columbia.

“Climathon provides a great opportunity for students to use their creativity to think outside the box in helping to address climate change challenges,” said John Forrer, associate research professor of strategic management and public policy and director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility. “Having the MBA students act as consultants really helped the teams devise needed solutions that also are financially sustainable.”

Retirement

Gil Yancey Retires

Longtime Blaser Family Executive Director of the F. David Fowler Career Center Gilbert C. Yancey retired from GWSB on Jan. 4, 2019. Mr. Yancey plans to spend time enjoying his family, traveling and working with the boards, charities and church to which he is devoted.

“January marked Gil’s 12th year with GWSB and under his leadership the center transformed into a point of pride for our school. Students from across campus seek to use the services of the center and it has significantly influenced how career support is organized and provided campus-wide,” Dean Anuj Mehrotra said.

Research

Millennials: Good with Gadgets, Not So Much with Finances The Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) and the TIAA Institute released a new report documenting the financial literacy gap among millennials. The report also found that while most millennials use their smartphones to manage their personal finances, financial technology (fin-tech) does not necessarily improve their personal finance management practices.

The “Millennial Financial Literacy and Fin-Tech Use: Who Knows What in the Digital Era” study utilized the 2018 Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) to examine the personal finance knowledge of millennials. Millennials answered 44 percent of P-Fin Index questions correctly, compared to 50 percent of the U.S. adult population. Younger millennials (ages 18-27) scored lower than older millennials (ages 28-37), 41 percent to 47 percent.

Dean Mehrotra cited the many innovations Mr. Yancey launched for the career center, including career strategy courses for undergraduates; the Fowler Coordinator and Associate Programs to train students as peer advisers; Communities of Practice to provide experiential learning in real estate, finance, consulting and marketing; and, most recently, the Finance and Real Estate Careers Summit, which debuted at this year’s Colonials Weekend.

“Please join me in thanking Gil for his leadership and contributions to GWSB and wishing him well as he tries his hand at retirement,” Dean Mehrotra added.

Thank you, Gil — and best of luck in retirement!

Research

GW-CIBER Earns Renewal, $1.3 Million Federal Grant GWSB was awarded a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, renewing its Center for International Business Education and Research (GW-CIBER) through 2022. The national CIBER program, created by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, was founded to increase and promote the nation’s capacity for international understanding and economic enterprise.

The CIBER program not only provides vital funding to train future business leaders but also links current U.S. businesses with the expertise of U.S. universities in the areas of international education, language training and research. GW-CIBER is one of 15

CIBER programs at universities throughout the United States.

“This renewal of funding confirms GWSB’s pursuit of excellence and the importance of GW-CIBER in enhancing our commitment to international business education and research,” Dean Anuj Mehrotra said.

“Please join me in congratulating Faculty Director Anna Helm and GW-CIBER-affiliated faculty and staff for their impactful work.”

“The grant is a tribute to the strengths of GW-CIBER, its affiliated faculty and other collaborators from across campus, and especially our highly ranked International Business Department,” Dr. Helm said. “GW-CIBER

leverages and benefits the entire George Washington University by encouraging and enabling cross-disciplinary research and programming.”

According to Dr. Helm, the funding will support GW-CIBER’s ongoing mission to enhance students’ understanding of international business by developing and offering innovative courses, co-curricular programing and short-term study-abroad classes. A portion of the grant will go toward the development of a community of practice for international business students and an internship program leveraging GWSB’s international alumni network, she added.

Event

What’s Cooking?

Star Chefs!

The Master of Tourism Administration program welcomed top D.C.area chefs to discuss leadership, management and entrepreneurship for the StarChefs “How to Make It” panel.

business.gwu.edu | 9

GWSB NEWS BRIEFS Faculty

Danny Leipziger: Our Man in Uzbekistan Danny Leipziger, professor of international business and managing director of the Growth Dialogue, recently returned from Uzbekistan, where he was invited by the government to create an economic council, coordinate economic reform policies and advise on the selection of external advisers.

“The government of Uzbekistan has embarked on a major program of economic reforms aimed at reversing decades of state domination of the economy,” Dr. Leipziger said. “Under President Shavat Mirziyoyev,

who assumed the helm in Tashkent, the capital, in 2016, a breath of fresh air has swept the country.”

…he was invited by the government to create an economic council, coordinate economic reform policies and advise on the selection of external advisers.

— Danny Leipziger, professor of international business and managing director of the Growth Dialogue

Dr. Leipziger brought decades of handson experience in economic management and policy coordination to the Uzbek project—

HONOR

Dr. Lusardi Receives Honorary Doctorate from University of Vaasa Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Chair of Economics and Accountancy, and academic director of the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, traveled to Finland last semester to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Vaasa, in recognition of her pioneering work in developing financial literacy as a field of study.

Dr. Lusardi received her honorary doctor of science in economics and business administration degree at an elaborate conferment ceremony at the University of Vaasa. She and her fellow honorees each received a hat (see photo) symbolizing the “freedom of research,” and a ceremonial doctoral sword, “the symbol of a weapon of the spirit: to battle for what has been scientifically researched and discovered as true, right and good.”

In its conferment book, the University of Vaasa cited Dr. Lusardi’s research and documentation of “the impact of financial literacy on financial behavior, such as planning for retirement, participation in the stock market, and debt accumulation and debt management.”

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including 25 years at the World Bank, advising policymakers around the globe. He was vice chair of the influential Commission on Growth and Development (2005-2009) and has served on World Economic Forum councils on globalization and inclusive economic growth.

Dr. Leipziger’s efforts on behalf of the central Asian nation were highlighted in a major Tashkent newspaper. As far as we know, he’s the first GWSB professor to appear in the Uzbek media.

Event

GWSB Hosts World Tourism Day Forum Tourism Challenge: the “Trip Adventure” team from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

GWSB’s International Institute of Tourism Studies and the Center for Responsible Travel hosted “Overtourism: Seeking Solutions,” a World Tourism Day forum.

Helen Marano, executive vice president of external affairs, World Travel & Tourism Council, opened the September 2018 event and introduced keynote speaker Albert Arias Sans, member of the Barcelona city council.

They were followed by an impressive slate of presenters, including local and national government officials, representatives from the travel and tourism industry, scholars and journalists. Presentation topics touched on historic cities, national parks and protected areas, world heritage sites, coastal and beach communities, and national and regional destinations.

Also featured during the program was the announcement of the winner of the Ras Al Khaimah Adventure

Presentation topics touched on historic cities, national parks and protected areas, world heritage sites, coastal and beach communities, and national and regional destinations.

— “Overtourism: Seeking Solutions,” a World Tourism Day forum, September 2018

The contest, co-sponsored by IITS and the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, challenged entrants to develop a strategy for an adventure sports event that will bring adventure travel enthusiasts to Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The winner received a cash prize of $5,000 and a trip to the UAE. The challenge was created in honor of Donald Hawkins, Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy emeritus, who taught at GWSB for over 40 years.

FROM A STARTUP IN THE GARAGE TO A GLOBAL CONTENDER By Mary A. Dempsey Mr. Sauma…tailored his coursework around international marketing and international finance.

Today he is the chief financial officer of International American Supermarkets Corp., a New Jersey-based company he manages with his five brothers.

Thirty years ago, Joe Sauma, armed with an undergraduate economics degree from the State University of New York, enrolled in what was then the School of Government and Business Administration at the George Washington University. He’d picked GW for two reasons. He wanted a school with a strong international business program, and he wanted an educational institution that did more than pay lip service to entrepreneurship.

“I come from a family of entrepreneurs.

My father was a businessman in Lebanon trading internationally, and when we came to the United States, my eldest brother and mentor started an export company out of his garage. I was looking at joining him after I finished my MBA,” said Mr. Sauma. “And that’s exactly what I did.”

Mr. Sauma, MBA ’89, tailored his coursework around international marketing and international finance. Today he is the chief financial officer of International American Supermarkets Corp., a New Jerseybased company he manages with his five brothers.

Mr. Sauma spent a lot of his MBA time picking the brains of his professors, notably Phillip Grubb, the godfather of the school’s highly regarded international business program; the international business

department chairman, Peter Lauter, who wrote widely on Eastern European economies, Japan’s economy and the rise of the European Union; Sal Divita, who spent a decade doing international marketing for IBM before he began teaching it; and George Solomon, who is still a professor of management and director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the GW School of Business.

“They were my mentors,” Mr. Sauma said. “Their backgrounds were incredible— Dr. Grubb was from Hungary and had relationships in the Pacific Rim and Mideast.

Outside the classroom, you could discuss real-life situations with them, an event in the Far East or something going on with the European Union.”

Mr. Sauma told them the plan for his family’s business. “They helped shape the direction I pursued,” he said.

Just five years before Mr. Sauma started his MBA, Dr. Solomon had earned a doctorate from GW, the first doctorate in entrepreneurship conveyed by an accredited U.S. business school. When Mr. Sauma began studying at Foggy Bottom, Dr. Solomon was a part-time faculty member. One of his responsibilities included identifying successful entrepreneurs to take part in the Howard Hoffman Distinguished Lecture business.gwu.edu | 11

Series, a program funded with $100,000 from the business leader for whom it was named. The lectures gave Mr. Sauma—and other students—access to a Who’s Who list of entrepreneurs.

“In the late ’80s and into the ’90s, GW was one of the few schools involved in creativity and entrepreneurship conferences around the country,” said Dr. Solomon, who also worked for the Small Business Administration. “Joe would have been exposed to a class where we looked at feasibility plans for businesses… he would have heard lots of presentations and had lots of interactions focused on entrepreneurship” “We had an environment that allowed our students to take risk.”

BUILDING THE BUSINESS

After graduation, Mr. Sauma became the third of the six Sauma brothers to join the family food export business. “I did not come in with one specific skill,” he explained.

“Being an entrepreneurial family business, you had to learn everything.”

There was no competition from Amazon or the Internet in those days, but there was the challenge of being a small player in the global market. “We had American products that we were trying to put on foreign supermarket shelves to end up on everyone’s table,” Mr. Sauma said. We were competing with big food multinationals.”

International American Supermarkets Corp. chose an interesting strategy. It started by buying from New Jersey’s Wakefern Food Corp., a cooperative group of supermarkets that includes Shop-Rite and Price-Rite stores. It exported Shop-Rite products to Saudi Arabia, targeting U.S. expatriates working in the Saudi oil industry.

“These are people who had moved to Saudi Arabia with their kids. They had their own schools and wanted American products.

Back then there was no supply chain,” Mr. Sauma explained. “We shipped consolidated Shop-Rite products for them.

“Interestingly, a few years later, local consumers in Saudi Arabia became interested in those same products and our market expanded,” he said. Five years after that, the company built its network to include other distributors in the Middle East and then duplicated the model with additional U.S. suppliers.

As it then moved into the European market, “we encountered a lot of companies trying to imitate or compete with us on price and marketing. But we found our edge,” said Mr. Sauma, who was born in Lebanon, like his siblings, and graduated from a French Jesuit high school in Beirut. English is just one of five languages he navigates in.

In its early years, the company was three brothers working out of that garage.

It outsourced all its services, including

International American Supermarkets Corp., headquartered in New Jersey, is solar powered.

12 | GWSB Spring 2019

“ In the late ’80s and into the ’90s, GW was one of the few schools involved in creativity and entrepreneurship conferences around the country,” said Dr. Solomon, who also worked for the Small Business Administration. “Joe would have been exposed to a class where we looked at feasibility plans for businesses… he would have heard lots of presentations and had lots of interactions focused on entrepreneurship.”

Joe Sauma with his daughter Isabella, GW Class of ’22.

trucking and warehousing, from other companies. Thirty years later, it has more than 50 employees, 100 global distributors, operates in 50 countries and has a dozen manufacturers supplying it with products for export out of its own warehouse and corporate headquarters in New Jersey.

BACK IN THE GW FOLD

In recent years, Mr. Sauma has reconnected with his alma mater in a big way. In 2018, he joined the university’s Family Philanthropy Board and mentored students in the New Venture Competition. The 11-year-old competition, the ninth largest collegiate entrepreneurship competition in the United States, allows GW students, faculty, staff and alumni to develop, test and launch their own startups. In the 2019 competition, Mr. Sauma was a judge.

“He wants to encourage GW students to be more entrepreneurial and innovative,” said Lex McCusker, who directs GW’s Student Entrepreneurship Programs.

“Joe donated $10,000 to sponsor two new foodie prizes in the 2019 competition. He wants to encourage startups in the industry he loves.”

The prizes are earmarked for New Venture teams in two categories: the best food and beverage concept and the most innovative food and beverage concept.

“Joe just loves GW. He bleeds Buff & Blue. And the progress that GW has made in the area of entrepreneurship was moving for him,” said Dr. McCusker, who is also the principal investigator for AccelerateGW, which is the university’s NSF I-Corps Site Program. I-Corps funded by the National Science Foundation, is a catalyst for technology startups.

“I don’t want to be passive, just writing a check. I want to be involved,” said Mr. Sauma. “I love to interact with students, especially those who are eyeing the same areas I followed—international business, entrepreneurship, innovation, food-related entities.

“I am especially interested in mentoring students who have the vision but need more interaction if they are to go on and create a formal company,” he added.

Mr. Sauma would like to serve as ambassador for GWSB in New York and New Jersey, to participate in alumni events with students and be involved with the

GWSB advisory board. His Colonial connection has another link: His daughter Isabella is a freshman at GW. “Her goal is social entrepreneurship,” he said. “I didn’t have anything to do with her decision to go to GW, but it was a happy surprise.”

Mr. Sauma’s 22-year-old son Oliver is part of International American Supermarkets Corp. Mr. Sauma also has 15-year-old daughter, Tiara.

“We don’t look at our business as a career alone. It is meaningful for us—by employing people and family and putting food on tables all over the world,” he said.

The company is currently exploring new investment areas, including natural and health foods.

“Not all family businesses are destined to success. Sometimes there are rivalries,” Mr. Sauma said. “In our case, each brother came in with his own entrepreneurial thinking and passion.

“It’s like six intrapreneurial companies within one, each coming in with out-ofthe-box thinking and creative minds—yet converging into the common goal and benefit of the group.” GWSB

business.gwu.edu | 13

BUSINESS RESEARCH EQUALS REAL WORLD RESEARCH

By Dan Michaelis

14 | GWSB Spring 2019

Say the words “academic research paper� to most people and their eyes glaze over. The following should go a long way toward changing that reaction.

The George Washington University School of Business has built a solid reputation as a leading research institution. The work performed by GWSB’s individual faculty members and more than a dozen research centers regularly adds to the collective knowledge and understanding of business functions, practices and standards, providing discoveries and insights that benefit education, business and society as a whole.

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GWSB’s faculty are noted for their curiosity, expertise and drive in producing important—and practical—scholarly research on all facets of business and the global business environment.

In recent years, two of its faculty members, Herman Aguinis, Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar and professor management, and Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Chair of Economics and Accountancy and academic director of the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, topped worldwide listings for the most frequently cited academic papers in their respective fields. Dr. Aguinis is widely recognized as an academic thought leader in organizational behavior and managing “star talent.” Likewise, Dr. Lusardi has earned a worldwide reputation as the leading authority on financial literacy.

The following collection of articles, specially adapted from academic research papers for GWBusiness magazine, by three professors illustrates the breadth and diversity of the GWSB faculty’s research interests, as well as the depth and scope of their expertise in examining, assessing and evaluating a virtually limitless variety of subjects—and in discovering practical

business lessons and applications for what they have learned from the subjects of their research.

• John Forrer, associate research professor of strategic management and public policy and director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility, shares his research on the difficulties involved in accurately determining (and certifying) whether or not a commodity—in this case, cocoa—is harvested, packed, shipped and brought to market under truly “sustainable” conditions.

• D. Christopher Kayes, chairman of the GWSB Department of Management and professor of management, looks at three crisis-management case studies and what can be learned from them.

• J orge Rivera, professor of strategic management and public policy, provides a fascinating inside-look at how the ski industry is handling the existential challenges posed by climate change.

The following represents just a small sample of the research being performed by GWSB faculty. I am sure you will find it informative—and interesting.

The work of Professors Forrer (left), Kayes (middle) and Rivera (right) reflects the depth and breadth of faculty scholarship and advances GW's solid reputation as a leading research institute.

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business.gwu.edu | 17

THE DARK SIDE OF SUSTAINABLE COCOA SUPPLY CHAINS?

By John Forrer Associate Research Professor of Strategic Management and Public Policy

Based on the research on global cocoa supply chains… firms should explore strategies other than third-party certification that are more reliable and transparent—such as blockchains—to ensure their commitment to sustainability is viewed by their customers as authentic and transparent.

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Consumer demand for sustainable products continues to grow. Trendy restaurants promote their healthy and sustainable ingredients. Casual restaurants such as sweetgreen, Beefsteak and Panera tout their efforts to “buy local” and source responsibly. Perhaps surprising, Walmart is now the largest retailer of organic products. However, for all the interest in sustainability, there remains a great deal of uncertainty among consumers as to what it actually means when a firm says it is “sustainable” and buys it products through sustainable supply chains.

Being a sustainable business suggests different ideas to different people. For some, it means firms are reducing their impact on the environment, such as adopting “zero policies” when it comes carbon emissions, water usage and waste.

For others it means firms are taking account of the broader social impact of their business activities on the communities where they operate, and advancing inclusive development such as outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Still others understand this concept to mean businesses conduct themselves to ensure the creation of long-term business value for the firm’s stakeholders. These different views of sustainability can overlap each other—they can even be synergistic when pursued simultaneously—but competing ideas about what it means to be sustainable present challenges for firms related to stakeholder management and reputational risk.[1] These challenges are particularly acute for firms reliant on global commodity supply chains such as cocoa.

There are three principal concerns about the potential negative impacts global cocoa supply chains could have on communities.

First is the low income of cocoa farmers and the low wages paid to the cocoa workers.

Undifferentiated commodities like cocoa bring low prices, leaving many cocoa farmers in perpetual poverty. Second are efforts to expand cocoa production through the use of pesticides and herbicides, which can harm the local environment. Third is

global cocoa price volatility, which brings poor development prospects for cocoa farming communities.

An additional specific concern around cocoa supply chains has been the use of forced labor on cocoa farms.

Many advocacy groups have reported extensive use of forced labor (slavery) in the production of cocoa. The low price commanded by cocoa in global markets put pressure on farmers to reduce their farming costs as low as possible. The use of slavery in cocoa farming clearly does not qualify as a “sustainability practice,” but the practice can be difficult to detect. Chocolate lovers may unwittingly be eating chocolate made by enslaved people. The business that sold it to them may also be unaware.

In response to these concerns, all the major corporations selling cocoa and chocolate products—Mars Wrigley Confectionery (U.S.A.), Ferrero Group (Luxembourg / Italy), Mondelē International (U.S.A.), Meiji Co. Limited (Japan), Nestlé SA (Switzerland), Hershey Co. (U.S.A.)—have pledged to be sustainable by 2020. But what does that really mean to consumers? What is different about chocolate that is “sustainable” from other chocolate?

Sustainability certification has become the popular way for firms to assure customers they are socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. The two best-known certifiers of sustainable supply chains for global commodities are Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade USA. Certifying cocoa as having been produced sustainably follows the same approach as for other global commodities. The Forest Sustainability Council (FSC), addressing de-forestation, and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), addressing overfishing, are wellknown global governance efforts to make supply chains more sustainable, led by NGOs set up to create the standards corporations would commit to meeting voluntarily.

Farmers who produce their cocoa consistent with sustainability standards set

by Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade USA are certified accordingly, and their cocoa beans are bought by firms who pay a fee to these two (and other) certifying organizations to provide them sustainable cocoa.

Typically, the firms’ cocoa and chocolate products display the certifier’s label to advertise their chocolate’s sustainability to consumers. And certified products typically are priced higher, reflecting the increased cost of growing cocoa with sustainable business practices.

SAN/Rainforest Alliance claims their Certified™ cocoa now accounts for 13.4 percent of the world’s cocoa supply. Yet even certification does not mean what it may seem.

It surprises people to learn that chocolate and cocoa products can be designated and marketed as “certified” when only a percentage of the ingredients meet certification standards. So firms that rely on certification to assert their commitment to sustainable products to their customers are left with significant reputation risk. It may be worse for firms to claim sustainability and then be found to fall well short of that standard than to make no claims about the sustainability of their products at all. Given this, firms might well question whether it makes sense for them pay extra for certified chocolate and whether certifying the sustainability of global cocoa supply chains is even possible to achieve.

Our research focused on this same question: the feasibility of the sustainable supply chain strategy (SSCS) that guides cocoa certification organizations. In an earlier research paper examining tropical timber supply chains, we identified the five features that comprise the classic SSCS[2] employed by most certifiers (including cocoa).

These five features are the key operational requirements needed to achieve the economic, environmental and social goals of sustainable supply chains. We used this same five-feature framework that describes the SSCS and examined global cocoa supply chains. We assessed each of the five features and their compatibility with certifying sustainable cocoa on a 5-1 scale, with 5 being

the most compatible.

Achieving the economic, environmental and social benefits associated with sustainable supply chains requires the successful adoption and execution of all five features of the SSCS. Our research shows that the classic SSCS used by certifiers is poorly suited to bring about sustainable cocoa supply chains. The low scores across the five features means the conditions throughout cocoa supply chains do not allow for reliable adoption and execution of the SSCS.

SAN/Rainforest Alliance claims their Certified™ cocoa now accounts for 13.4 percent of the world’s cocoa supply. Yet even certification does not mean what it may seem.

The global supply chain that ships cocoa beans, cocoa and chocolate around the world is analogous to a major river fed by thousands of smaller rivers and rivulets, each adding to the larger global supply chain. The cocoa market in Western Africa (the source of two-thirds of global cocoa production) comprises many small land-holding farmers.

It isn’t difficult to lose track of the origins of the cocoa beans, cocoa and chocolate as they make their way into and through supply chains. Corruption and poor reporting makes enforcement and qualifications problematic. For example, farmers who grow certified cocoa beans might accept the beans of non-certified neighborhood growers, allowing them to share in the premium cocoa price for certified beans.

Certifiers acknowledge they cannot guarantee their certification is 100 percent authentic. Most vendors do not know the origins of the chocolate they are selling.

Few consumers are aware of cocoa supply chain issues, and more expensive sustainable chocolate is a niche market.

Global cocoa supply chains are rife with “unsustainable” practices. In response to stakeholder pressure to be more sustainable, major chocolate firms have adopted certification of the sustainability of their supply chains as their solution. Our

research shows that these certifications are undependable and face poor prospects of ever being a reliable way for firms to make authentic claims to customers about their commitment to sustainable chocolate. To be clear, we do not argue that the SSCS is flawed but simply that is not an effective strategy when it comes to making global cocoa supply chains sustainable.

The goal of the SSCS, developed over 20 years ago, was to improve the conditions of farmers and fishermen, the environment and communities through the adoption of sustainable supply chain practices. In response, many corporations have adopted sustainability certification. As admirable as these goals are, if the conditions in the supply chain do not align with requirements, success can only be partial at best.

Consumer pressure on firms to offer products and services that meet standards of sustainability will only grow stronger.

Based on the research on global cocoa supply chains, we draw several conclusions. First, additional research is needed to examine more commodities (e.g. tea, coffee, palm oil, sugar, cotton). The conditions found for cocoa may be very different than those found in other commodity supply chains, and the SSCS may be more compatible for other businesses. Second, sustainability certification may be a poorer business service than believed, as it could leave clients with substantial reputational risk around the sustainability of their supply chains. And third, firms should explore strategies that are more reliable and transparent than thirdparty certification—such as blockchains—to ensure their commitment to sustainability is viewed by their customers as authentic and transparent.

[1] Roehrich, Jens K., Johanne Grosvold, and Stefan U. Hoejmose, (2014), “Reputational Risks and Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Decision Making Under Bounded Rationality,” International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 34(5), pp.695-719.

[2] Forrer, John and Karen Mo, (July 19, 2013), “From Certification to Supply Chain Strategy: An Analytical Framework for Enhancing Tropical Forest Governance,” Organization & Environment, 26(3), pp. 260 – 280.

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CRISIS, DISASTER AND BREAKDOWNS: LESSONS IN ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE

By D. Christopher Kayes Professor of Management

It’s important for leaders to understand how they will react in a crisis. They must ensure that their crisis management team is well trained and has the tools to accurately respond when an inevitable crisis arises.

For two decades, I have been studying crisis, disaster and breakdowns to better understand what makes an organization vulnerable. I have studied mountain climbing expeditions, airline cockpit crews, intelligence failures, military battles and corporate bankruptcies, among other organizational troubles. This research has led to a better understanding of what can go wrong in an organization but, more importantly, highlights how organizations can become more resilient. In short, by studying how organizations become vulnerable, we can better understand how organizations function under stress and how to build stronger, more resilient organizations.

This research has led to a better understanding of what can go wrong in an organization but, more importantly, highlights how organizations can become more resilient.

The study of crisis draws on many fields, including psychology, management, leadership, engineering, economics and other disciplines. Many studies find explanations for disaster in one field of study and applying it to another scenario.

The Unintended Consequences Of Setting And Pursuing Challenging Goals: The Mount Everest Disaster Many are familiar with the 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster that was chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air. The climbers were delayed during their ascent to the summit of Mount Everest because ropes had not been put in place as planned. Weaker climbers slowed the teams’ ascent and several got lost in a storm. Team members became separated and individual climbers were left to fend for themselves.

In the end, eight climbers, including two of the most respected guides on the mountain, died that season.

The events reveal several important lessons, including the unintended

20 | GWSB Spring 2019

consequences of setting and pursuing high goals. After all, the climbers achieved their goal, reaching the summit, but they faced unimaginable challenges on the way down. Another lesson that emerged from the events is how leaders, who are experts in their field, often fail to adapt when circumstances change. Continuous learning, even for the most accomplished leaders, is an important ingredient for success.

The Dangers Of Cognitive OffLoading And The Air France 447 Disaster Many lessons that emerge from studying crisis can be helpful to leaders. Consider the case of Air France Flight 447. The cockpit crew of a commercial airline flight experienced the failure of an air speed sensor. The problem was routine, but the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris resulted in disaster.

About three hours into the flight, the crew captain left the cockpit to rest.

That’s when the air speed sensor, located outside the plane, froze. The result was an emergency warning in the cockpit. But the remaining two pilots misdiagnosed the problem and assumed the aircraft was losing air speed when, in reality, the information being fed to the cockpit was incomplete.

The autopilot function switched off. In response, one member of the cockpit crew executed the wrong sequence of maneuvers.

Rather than executing a recovery at high altitude, he executed a recovery at low altitude, a completely different set of actions. The pilot failed to communicate his actions to the other pilot. By the time the captain returned to the cockpit, it was too late. Less than two minutes after he arrived, the plane crashed into the ocean.

The Air France disaster shows how organizations can be implicated in what psychologists call cognitive off-loading.[1] Off-loading, the process where operators rely on technology to perform cognitive and emotional tasks that were once performed by humans, can leave organizational operators with gaps in their understanding of key organizational processes. These

organizational processes are essential for responding to unexpected events that are associated with crisis.

Cognitive off-loading is a problem because psychologists have found that individuals are less persistent at completing a task when they believe they can find the information elsewhere, which may lead to frustration and increase stress. Further, research has shown that once we learn something well, it is more difficult to relearn a new way to do it. Off-loading certain tasks to technology, like flying a plane in high altitude in poor weather conditions, means that pilots may lack the knowledge necessary to function when things go wrong. It takes time to relearn, and time is something that pilots don’t always have when they need to correct an airplane.

Off-loading, the process where operators rely on technology to perform cognitive and emotional tasks that were once performed by humans, can leave organizational operators with gaps in their understanding of key organizational processes.

The disaster alerts us to other situations where cognitive offloading may be a factor in accidents. Self-driving cars, finding directions, even remembering phone numbers are examples of cognitive offloading that we experience every day in and out of organizations.

Mary Barra’s response to the GM Ignition Scandal Not all scenarios end in disaster. In collaboration with Alex Haseley, of Deloitte, a graduate of the GWSB MBA program, we reviewed several crisis response scenarios.

We reviewed only information that was available to the public.

One scenario we reviewed was Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors Co., and her response to the faulty ignition switch scandal. About two weeks into her new job, Ms. Barra learned the company had been

dealing with a major defect in one of its key parts. A week later she was contacted by one of GM’s primary regulators, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The problem impacted the safety on over 600,000 automobiles.[2] Within days of hearing about the crisis she assembled a high-level team. The team, under her direction: • Hired an outside firm that specialized in responding to the anticipated public and financial fallout of the defect; • Commissioned an external investigator with experience in corporate challenges to investigate and recommend ways to prevent this scandal from occurring in the future; • Apologized for the company; and • Introduced an 11-point processimprovement plan and a cultural change effort to revise how errors were reported in the future.

Think of the problems that could have been avoided in the Deep Water Horizon or Exxon Valdez oil spills. Consider what might have been different had Lehman and Bear Sterns not fallen into bankruptcy.

In summary, studying crisis, disasters and breakdowns in a variety of settings can help organizations identify mechanisms to respond to crisis. Integrating these findings with the latest research can help identify new ways to think about crisis and how to prevent them in the future.

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S1364661316300985 [2] https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/vaukas-report-on-gm-dedacted.pdf

Lessons For Organizational Leaders Like Ms. Barra navigating through the crisis at GM, every leader must develop the right skill set and understand the organizational mechanisms that contribute to organizational resilience. As more organizations experience extreme situations, crisis leadership needs to be on the agenda at all levels of the organization.

It’s important for leaders to understand how they will react in a crisis. They must ensure that their crisis management team is well trained and has the tools to accurately respond when an inevitable crisis arises.

This starts at the board of directors and filters through the entry-level employees in the organization.

As more organizations experience extreme situations, crisis leadership needs to be on the agenda at all levels of the organization.

Further, a better understanding of how crises arise can lead to improved social responsibility efforts in organizations.

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BUSINESS ADAPTION STRATEGY FOR ADVERSE NATURAL CONDITIONS: HOW THE SKI INDUSTRY ADDRESSES THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

By Jorge Rivera Professor of Strategic Management and Public Policy

Our findings also suggest that managers can recognize the limitations of their firms’ individual ecological mitigation efforts, which may be why we observed an insignificant relationship between ecological uncertainty and mitigation.

22 | GWSB Spring 2019

Business managers and strategy scholars have long been interested in the question of how firms adapt to adverse changes in their operating environment. A business’s external context is widely understood to be a key driver of its strategic choices. But how do businesses plan for and cope with long-term, adverse changes in the natural environment?

Prior strategic management frameworks on adverse external environmental conditions have tended to ignore the natural environment and traditionally focused on firms’ competitive, economic, political and institutional contexts. Seldom is the natural environment given more than lip service.

In the absence of climate change’s harmful effects, the tendency to ignore nature’s adverse conditions has, of course, made much sense for management scholars.

Managers tend to perceive adverse natural phenomena in terms of “acts of God,” for which little can be done—but gradual, more persistent changes in biophysical conditions create chronic stress for businesses and are more difficult to plan for and manage.

Our research suggests, however, that firms facing physical constraints from nature often manage them by increasing their use of natural resources, unless environmental institutional pressures are robust.

Interestingly, corporate environmental management literature has also paid little attention to the adverse effects of nature on business strategies, focusing instead on examining the negative impacts of business on nature.

To be sure, it is well understood that during the last 10,000 years weather, climate, geological and ecological conditions have been exceptionally steady, particularly when compared to the earth’s earlier geological periods. Accelerating climate change trends and their associated detrimental effects are getting increased attention from top corporate managers and policymakers around the world. A key question highlighted by this increased attention is how these conditions affect business adaptation strategies?

For an answer, my co-researchers and I decided to examine the ski industry in the

western United States—a business that is largely dependent on natural conditions— and how it has been affected by, and how it is adapting to, changing climate conditions.

Our research suggests, however, that firms facing physical constraints from nature often manage them by increasing their use of natural resources, unless environmental institutional pressures are robust.

The ski industry is highly vulnerable to natural environmental conditions associated with climate change. The industry reportedly lost around $1 billion dollars in revenue between 1999-2010, attributable to lower demand for skiing because of poor snow conditions. The ski industry has been focusing on undertaking protective adaptation practices, such as slope expansion and snowmaking, in response to these changing conditions.

Before 2014, adaptation in the form of diversification to summer outdoor recreation activities was very seldom implemented because it was legally restricted for ski resorts located on national forest lands (the vast majority of most western ski resorts).[1] Slope expansion to more climatically favorable areas, such as higher elevations or north-facing mountainsides, attempts to capitalize on longer lasting snow cover, while snowmaking enables ski resorts to supplement and even replace natural snow cover. Both actions are meant to help ski resorts maintain or extend the ski season. The main challenge, however, is that the projected trend toward warming temperatures yielding decreasing natural snowfall may affect the degree to which these adaptive measures will remain effective.

For example, in research I published with Peter Tashman, assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts (and formerly a doctoral student at GWSB) in 2016 in the Strategic Management Journal, we found that ski resorts experiencing greater uncertainty

in snowfall levels are significantly more likely to increase natural-resource-intensive adaptations like snowmaking, which simultaneously have a detrimental effect on local environmental conditions.

Our research provides early evidence that firms manage resource-dependence challenges created by ecological uncertainty by engaging in more natural-resourceintensive adaptation. It also suggests that institutional pressures (e.g., regulations and environmental groups protest) related to the social desirability of natural-resourceintensive adaptation and ecological mitigation constrain the magnitude of these responses.

This is interesting because it challenges previous research suggesting that businesses reduce consumption of natural resources when environmentally concerned stakeholders create uncertainty by threatening to withhold critical resources.

Our findings suggest that businesses respond to ecological uncertainty by increasing their use of natural-resourcesintensive practices.

We cite three reasons to explain this result: first, firms may be able to adapt to ecological uncertainty by establishing more stable sources of natural resources; second, nature cannot willfully countervail itself against firms that use its resources; and, third, using resources directly from nature is potentially cost effective because businesses may be able to externalize some of the costs of those resources. In sum, while prior research has demonstrated how resource dependence on socioeconomic systems constrains consumption of natural resources, our research suggests that the opposite may occur when the dependence is on nature.

In another study of the ski industry, conducted with Dr. Viviane Clement, senior climate change policy analyst at the World Bank (and formerly a doctoral student at GWSB), we found that ski resorts tend to exhibit lower degrees of protective adaptation at lower and upperrange levels of adverse natural conditions, while displaying greater levels of protective

adaptation at medium levels. Our most recent study advances earlier research by showing that controlling for snowpack uncertainty, the level of intensity in the form of adverse temperature conditions may act as a key limiting factor in firms’ ability to pursue protective adaption solutions.

While rising temperatures may at first drive practices like slope expansion, such remedial actions may become increasingly unviable as warming temperatures exert stiffer physical constraints.

Our findings have several managerial implications. First, while natural-resourceintensive adaptation may help firms insulate themselves from natural environmental uncertainty in the near term, the use of natural-resource-intensive practices over the long term may eventually affect the legitimacy of the business. In the short term, natural-resource-intensive adaptation may not generate negative environmental impacts. However, over the long term, these practices may create visible impacts that could stir the ire of environmentally concerned stakeholders.

Our findings suggest that businesses respond to ecological uncertainty by increasing their use of natural-resources-intensive practices.

how well this form of adaptation can help businesses maintain their ties to the natural environment over the long term.

As Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability for the Aspen Skiing Company, explains, adaptation plans in the industry may not be effective over the long term. “If making snow is your response to climate change, then you’ve got a problem,” he notes. Ecological mitigation, instead, focuses on long-term implications of ecological uncertainty.

Our findings also suggest that managers can recognize the limitations of their firms’ individual ecological mitigation efforts, which may be why we observed an insignificant relationship between ecological uncertainty and mitigation. Our findings further suggest that state-level environmental regulatory and activists’ pressures played a significant role in resorts’ decisions to adopt mitigation practices.

As a result, those decisions may best be seen as a means of helping the ski industry satisfy societal expectations for corporate engagement in collective mitigation action, as opposed to substantive efforts to mitigate ecological uncertainty. GWSB [1] In 2014, the U.S. Forest Service published new regulations allowing ski areas to market year-round outdoor recreational activities at ski areas and resorts located in national forest lands as part of the implementation of the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011.

Second, we found that businesses facing higher levels of ecological uncertainty may need to reconsider the importance of mitigation efforts since adaptation may only be a near-term solution. Phenomena driving ecological uncertainty, including climate change, collapsing ecosystems, declining biodiversity and the spread of invasive species and diseases, may continue to intensify in the future, implying that ecological uncertainty may magnify for vulnerable firms moving forward. Further, natural resources are finite, implying that firms may only be able to adapt to ecological uncertainty with natural-resource-intensive practices for so long before those resources are depleted. Thus, there may be limits to

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GWSB ALUMNI PROFILES

LYNDA PERALTA MBA ’17

FROM AMTRAK TO AMAZON: HOW LYNDA PERALTA BUILT POCKET PALETTE By Sarah Lyon When Lynda Peralta boarded an early morning train with a sandwich bag-portion of makeup that she planned to apply and then conveniently toss, she didn’t necessarily realize that she was well on her way to conceptualizing what would become her fulltime business. Five years later, Ms. Peralta’s startup, Pocket Palette, is working to simplify women’s lives in style with its portable, affordable, single-use makeup kits.

Each Pocket Palette measures threeand-a-half inches at its longest point— pocket-sized, like the name suggests—and is equipped with the essentials: a BB cream or foundation (which is available in four different shades), mascara and a dual-purpose lip and cheek color. Customers may purchase packs of three or 10 on Amazon or directly from Pocket Palette’s Shopify site. “Our mission is to empower women to look and feel confident on the go,” Pocket Palette’s website states.

While an MBA student at GWSB, Ms. Peralta overheard a conversation in a Duquès Hall bathroom that prompted her to capitalize on her train travel hack from a few years prior. Women were lamenting about having to transport their entire makeup bag to campus for pre-interview touchups and were immediately receptive when Ms. Peralta asked for their thoughts on a single-use solution. “Maybe this is something people will actually pay for,” she realized.

During the second year of her MBA program, Ms. Peralta entered the New 24 | GWSB Spring 2019

Venture Competition, which allows aspiring entrepreneurs to network, receive mentorship, participate in a pitch competition, and ultimately present their ideas to judges. When Ms. Peralta competed against 112 other teams in 2017, Pocket Palette took fourth place, receiving over $25,000 worth of in-kind prizes.

“The New Venture competition is definitely what set me up to run this business after I graduated,” Ms. Peralta says, noting that the process required meeting hard deadlines, establishing a business plan, identifying target consumer markets and more. She received valuable adviser feedback and felt well-prepared and credible when presenting her product across other avenues.

Ms. Peralta also credits the grassroots marketing course she took as being extremely useful given its focus on listening, a skillset that is valuable as she considers customer feedback.

Prior to beginning her studies at GWSB, Ms. Peralta knew that she wanted to be an entrepreneur eventually—she just didn’t think she would be running her own business so soon after receiving her diploma. After graduating from the University of Southern California in 2011, Ms. Peralta served as assistant store manager at a Target in her hometown, which provided her with a sense of how consumers shop for products, including makeup. She then moved to D.C. to begin working as an operations manager at Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter

School, with a long-term goal of working in marketing in either the consumer goods or education field.

Ms. Peralta says that the most difficult aspect of running her business is fundraising, which was particularly an issue before she was able to establish a prototype to accurately convey her concept to investors.

But in October 2017, Ms. Peralta raised over $55,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, and she received her first product shipment in May 2018.

As Ms. Peralta looks to the future, she hopes to continue to grow Pocket Palette as a consumer brand and also expand the travel industry arm. “The idea would be to partner with airlines, hotels, and gyms,” she explains.

Ms. Peralta notes that it’s always satisfying to introduce her product to consumers. “I think one of the coolest things is when I see people see it for the first time and they’re amazed that something like this exist,” she says, noting that, additionally, she takes pride in “being an inspiration for other women who have had ideas like this in their brains for some time but just need a little a push to get started.” She urges current MBA students with entrepreneurial inclinations to pursue their endeavors while on campus.

“Even if you have an inkling of an idea or if you don’t have an idea at all, you should just try to build something anyway,” Ms. Peralta notes. “There are more resources available to you as a student than you will ever have.”

“My experience at GW has exceeded all my expectations.”

“Going to the GW School of Business is a dream come true. I’ve fought, worked, and studied very hard to get here. It has been an uphill battle, coming from Caracas, Venezuela. Since I’m a foreigner I’m not eligible for student loans or any federal grant, so I’ve been paying tuition on my own and it has been an incredible effort for me.

I’m truly thankful for this scholarship and I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life.”

Gerardo German Tellechea, GWSB ’19

Every student deserves to pursue their dreams.

Support the Power & Promise Fund for scholarships and fellowships. go.gwu.edu/give2scholarships

business.gwu.edu | 25

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26 | GWSB Spring 2017

ANUJ MEHROTRA

A CATA LYST F OR CHA NGE

By Mary A. Dempsey

Anuj Mehrotra often points to a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein, that if he had an hour to solve a problem and his life depended on it, he would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and five minutes solving it routinely.

business.gwu.edu | 27

The dean of the George Washington University School of Business is energized by complex challenges and thrives on identifying solutions. But he’s also a fan of expediency. Those attributes are why he has been chosen to retool GWSB at a time when business schools around the world are scrambling to keep up with the fastforward demands of employers, students and technology.

“The shelf life of content in a business school used to be 15 years. Today it is five years. And that presents a challenge when you look at how you prepare students,” said Dean Mehrotra. “You must position yourself to give them the skill sets so they can continue lifelong learning, adapt to Dean Mehrotra, faculty, staff, graduate students—and George Washington—get together for a “March Madness” happy the marketplace, analyze situations.” hour.

The dean, who joined GW in July 2018, wife, Kashmira, who has graduate degrees in said schools are talking less about traditional faculty and chair of the Department of math and in computer science—and a B.S. in degree programs and more about learning Marketing at GWSB. “He knows that mechanical engineering from Birla Institute modules, specialization certificates and higher education in general is not agile and of Technology and Science in India. experiential education. Progressive business he is thinking all the time about how we At GWSB, he is leading the charge to schools are rewriting curricula and stepping can make our institution more agile, more reshape how education is delivered. Rather up hands-on opportunities for students responsive.” than building learning around degrees, the to solve real-life problems at companies, The New Shape Of school is turning to small learning modules. including firms outside the United States.

Education: Building Undergraduate students, for example, This is an area where GWSB already is Blocks now have “four-plus-one” opportunities at the forefront. Deeper student-faculty Like President LeBlanc, Dean Mehrotra to earn a master’s degree with just one interaction is also part of the new business came to GW from the University of additional year of study. Executives who education, as is stronger alumni networking Miami. He was senior vice dean for want additional expertise also have options and engagement. faculty development and research at that carry shorter time and investment “At GW, we talk a lot about education the Miami Business School, the Leslie commitments than an MBA. In the past, a and scholarship that is relevant. Being in O. Barnes Scholar and a professor of business executive interested in moving into D.C., you want to be able to apply what you management science. He succeeded Linda project management might have returned to are learning and that goes for business as Livingstone, who left GWSB’s helm in college for another degree. Today he or she well,” said GW President Thomas LeBlanc. mid-2017 to become president at Baylor can opt for a daylong or a weeklong seminar “We need a business school that gives University. Vivek Choudhury, a professor on project management to get specialized an education that is relevant, and Dean of information systems and technology training in smaller bites or even a certificate Mehrotra is thinking a lot about this.” management, served as interim dean program. for a year while an executive search was “Of course, if they’re hungry for more, Progressive business schools are underway. they can pursue a bachelor’s or a master’s rewriting curricula and stepping Dean Mehrotra grew up in a family degree,” said Dean Mehrotra. “More than up hands-on opportunities for of engineers “where education was anything, what we want to be able to do students to solve real-life problems paramount.”

He was drawn to higher is provide flexibility—when they need it, at companies, including firms education because it put him around where they need it and how they need it.” outside the United States. This talented people, current research, and GWSB last year expanded its offerings is an area where GWSB already young people who aspire to do great things. to include 18 for-credit graduate certificate is at the forefront.

“In academia, you also pursue a career programs—ranging from accountancy to Today’s schools must be quick and selfwith some level of freedom of thought,” walkable urban real estate development— correcting, but risk-taking and fast action he said. “And thought leadership and being and six professional development certificate aren’t the usual default positions at business around thought leadership has always been programs. Liesl Riddle, associate dean of schools. GWSB is working to change that attractive to me.” graduate programs at GWSB, said the move culture.

The dean earned a doctoral degree in responded to a relentless marketplace that “Anuj doesn’t want to sit around and operations research from Georgia Institute demands both greater specialization and debate things for a long period of time. He of Technology, an M.S. in operations broader skills. worries we’ll miss market opportunities,” research from Virginia Polytechnic Institute “If you look at the employer surveys said Vanessa Perry, associate dean of and State University—where he met his and they skills they need now, they find it

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At GWSB, he [Dean Mehrotra] is leading the charge to reshape how education is delivered. Rather than building learning around degrees, the school is turning to small learning modules. hard to hire,” said Dr. Riddle, who teaches international business. “In addition to [the skills] you’d expect—analyzing big data and leadership—there’s this thing about combining information from different sources, organizing it and leveraging it to make decisions.”

than just talk to the people in the room, he solicits input.

“He wants transparency. He wants faculty and staff to come with ideas, to bring all our brains together to work on problems. He’s even set up office hours for us,” said Dr. Riddle.

A Competitive Playing Field Dean Mehrotra said more than 500 new MBA programs have emerged, and competition for enrollment has stepped up both in the United States and internationally.

Student debt is another influencer. Not only is the cost of education rising, but employers are less likely to foot the bill. That’s why students and business executives seeking advanced skills are looking for flexible options that are high quality but shorter and more cost effective.

In distinguishing itself from competitors, GWSB continues to play off two longstanding strengths: its internationally known brand and its location in a global capital where education, policy, politics and finance meet.

“This is a place where you can rub shoulders with policymakers and regulators, with leaders from the IFC and the World Bank,” the dean said. He noted that this distinction not only offers unparalleled opportunities and connections for students, but it is also important for faculty research.

In recent years, GWSB has expanded the number of research centers and institutes housed in the school.

…GWSB continues to play off two longstanding strengths: its internationally known brand and its location in a global capital where education, policy, politics and finance meet.

The dean is also working to build greater awareness of faculty members who are leaders in their fields, and he is changing the way his office interacts with faculty.

For as long as anyone can remember, the first Friday of every month was earmarked for a faculty and staff meeting at which the dean spoke, sometimes at great length. Dean Mehrotra is mixing up the format. Rather

She added that the dean is simultaneously championing a better student experience.

“I’ve been here 18 years this August, and I’ve never seen a dean so committed to action around improving the student experience,” she said. “I can bring him an idea to improve the student experience and he’ll immediate say, ‘Do it.’”

Among new initiatives affecting students are online “happy hours” that virtually connect students, faculty and alumni for casual group conversations, and “George Talks Business,” a series of 30-minute interviews—broadcast live for the GW community—with notable alumni and business, government and nonprofit leaders.

In late January, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) announced that it had extended GWSB’s accreditation to include business and accounting. The extension required the school to meet additional standards of excellence. AACSB is the longest-serving global accrediting body for business schools.

There’s a lot of heavy lifting underway at GWSB but Dean Mehrotra said the work is unfolding atop a solid platform.

“Business schools need to act like businesses, in the sense that their success or failure hinges on whether the product they produce is attractive in the marketplace,” he said. “If you look at our combination of programs, faculty, student body, location and alumni, all the ingredients of success are present here at GWSB.” GWSB

Six Things You Probably Don’t Know about Dean Mehrotra 1. He loves swag. His push for more items promoting GWSB has resulted in a new dean’s reserve wine with the school’s logo on its label. The wine, available in limited quantities for special GWSB events, was developed at Selby Winery by Susie Selby, MBA ’85 2. T he dean is watching Amazon’s HQ2 expansion to Virginia but said GWSB “is not going to focus on any one company. We want to focus on a set of companies, including the companies and financial institutions that are already here.”

3. “I am not sure if people know that the Mehrotras’ daughter is a student here. As a result, Dean Mehrotra is experiencing GW in a very personal way,” said President LeBlanc. The dean’s daughter is a freshman at GW. Her older sister is a senior at Cornell University.

4. The dean likes to “think through talking.” That includes having conversations “where I learn information that might make me change my stand on something,” he explained.

5. He’s a vegetarian, and he’s a fan of sharing food. One-on-one or small-group meetings with faculty often unfold over a table of Indian food. fter living in Miami for 25 years, 6. A the dean and his wife, Kashmira, are immersing themselves in D.C.’s cultural scene. “Art museums, Lisner Auditorium, the Kennedy Center… and I’ve seen the Colonials basketball team,” Dean Mehrotra said. “My wife and I are enjoying all that D.C. has to offer.”

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GWSB

WOMEN SCORE ON THE

BUSINESS SIDE OF

SPORTS

By Sarah Lyon

THE WOMEN HIGHLIGHTED HERE REPRESENT JUST A SMALL NUMBER OF ALUMNAE WORKING I N V A R I O U S P O S I T I O N S I N T H E I N D U S T R Y, AS THE SPORTS INDUSTRY CONTINUES T O G R O W … T H E PAT H W AY S W I L L E X PA N D .

30 | GWSB Spring 2019

Most of us know that the sports industry—which is expected to be valued at over $76 billion in 2020—includes more than just what’s broadcast on TV or visible at the stadium. As the market itself has expanded over the years, opportunities for women on the business side of sports have also grown significantly. “Based on my experience starting in the industry in the ’80s, the opportunities in terms of the type and number of positions for women have definitely progressed,” says Lisa Delpy Neirotti, who is the director of GWSB’s MS in Sport Management program and an associate professor of sport management. “The women highlighted here represent just a small number of alumnae working in various positions in the industry, and I am extremely proud to have played even a small role in their development. As the sports industry continues to grow, along with the recognition of women’s contributions, the pathways will expand.”

(left) Shannon Corrigan, MTA ’15, Miami Dolphins event sales account manager at Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minn. (middle) Erin Lebar, MTA ’02, director of corporate partnerships for the NFL’s L.A. Chargers, takes in an L.A. Galaxy game at the Rose Bowl. (right) Lauren Cochran, BBA ’06, senior director of interactive media for the Miami Heat at the team’s American Airlines Arena.

(PHOTO CREDIT: David Alvarez)

business.gwu.edu | 31

Six alumnae share how their experience at the George Washington University School of Business set them up for success, while commenting on the challenges they face in their roles, the most rewarding aspects of working in the industry and the ways in which the sports world will continue to change and grow.

Lauren Cochran Senior Director of Interactive Media, Miami Heat BBA ’06

Emily Dunham Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Washington Nationals Baseball Club MBA ’15

Karen Liu Director of Global Media Partnerships, National Basketball Association BBA ’01

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Shannon Corrigan Account Manager, Event Sales, Miami Dolphins MTA ’15

Erin LeBar Director, Corporate Partnerships, L.A. Chargers MTA ’02

Maggie Wu Senior Director of Digital Marketing, Greater China, Nike BBA ’05, MBA ’08

How did you enter the world of sports business?

Emily Dunham: “I had never considered sports business as a career until I had the opportunity to study abroad at the Sochi Olympics through GWSB. That program opened my eyes to the world of sports business, sports marketing and sports events.”

Lauren Cochran: “I decided pretty early in

my college career that I wanted to pursue a career in sports. I’ve always loved going to sporting events, not only because of the play on the field, court or ice, but also for the spectacular show that is put on night after night. Sports have this incredible way of bringing out emotions in people, and I wanted to be a part of that. I first entered the sports industry the summer after my sophomore year when I did an internship with the Philadelphia Flyers. Internships were the key to networking and forging my path into sports after graduation.”

Maggie Wu: “Sports have always been a big part of my life. I played tennis and volleyball in high school and have continued to lead an athletic lifestyle. I studied marketing as an undergraduate, and it was my dream to work for brands that have inspired generations.

Nike is no doubt one of the best in that category, and it’s the perfect place for me to combine my passion for sports and marketing. Thanks to Professor [Lisa] Delpy Neirotti, I learned that Nike was hiring while at my MBA graduation dinner. I ran home that night and applied online, and the rest is history!”

In what way(s) do you attribute your GWSB education to your success today?

Karen Liu: “GWSB gave me the foundation and skills to succeed in the working world.

There is a big difference between wanting to be in sports and actually working in sports.

I attribute my introduction and entry into sports management to Dr. Delpy Neirotti.

Dr. Delpy Neirotti is both passionate about the industry and about helping her students succeed. She frequently networks within the industry to help her students gain the experience and foothold to break into

sports. I was willing to take any position that had any relevance to sports. Through GW connections, I began my career with the GW women’s basketball team, the Washington Capitals, the Army Ten-Miler and the American Le Mans Series.”

Shannon Corrigan: “While at GW, I

had the opportunity to work for a few different organizations that helped me better determine what I wanted to do after graduation. My trip with Dr. Delpy Neirotti to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics led to a full-time position with the Washington 2024 Olympic bid. I also had the great experience of working as a teaching assistant for GW’s Sport, Event, and Hospitality Management program, which led me to a role in special event sales at the brand new U.S. Bank Stadium. Without the specific coursework, unique volunteer and travel opportunities at various conferences and events, and internship programs available in D.C., I would not have the career I have today. Most importantly, the GW connection doesn't end with graduation, as I continue to work as a teaching assistant, and Dr. Neirotti regularly communicates new opportunities in the sports industry.”

Maggie Wu: “I wouldn’t have known to major in marketing if it wasn’t for my GW academic adviser, who worked with me to identify possible career paths based on my interests and strengths. Because of her, I was introduced to the class that changed my life: Professor Lynda Maddox’s advanced advertising course. In the class, I learned to develop integrated marketing plans, work on storytelling and presentation skills and, most importantly, work with different personalities in both small and large groups.

I still refer back to this experience today, and it has helped me grow tremendously.”

Tell me something most people don't know about the sports industry.

Erin LeBar: “It is addicting. Having held a few roles outside of sports during my career, they would never measure up to the passion and camaraderie I experienced while being part of a league or team. I always end up going back!”

Emily Dunham: “Sports organizations are just like any other business—we have HR, accounting, IT and more. People who are looking for a career in sports should consider developing skills in a traditional business specialty.”

Lauren Cochran: “I think there is a conception that you can’t raise a family and work in sports. While the sports field is very nontraditional and isn’t full of typical Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 jobs, there are organizations, like the Miami Heat, who know the value of a work-life balance.”

What about the sports industry have you found to be most challenging? What has been the most rewarding?

Karen Liu: “The most challenging aspect was breaking into the industry. At one point, I had given up on actively pursuing a career in sports and was working for an ad agency.

It was by chance that I discovered that the NBA was looking for someone with an advertising background. The most rewarding aspect would be all the opportunities that the NBA has provided me. Not only have I been able to work with sports executives and players, but I also work with people from around the world on a daily basis. It is always interesting to learn about different cultures, travel to the various offices across the globe and learn about how fans around the world consume sports.”

Erin LeBar: “The most rewarding aspect has

been giving fans or clients access to oncein-a-lifetime experiences. This may mean taking sweepstakes winners on the field at the Super Bowl while the confetti is still firing overhead or standing in Times Square as 10 NASCAR stock cars take a thunderous victory lap through Midtown to the delight of confused New Yorkers. You can’t measure the power of that feeling, and that is the most challenging aspect—converting emotion into return on investment for sponsors.”

Shannon Corrigan: “My biggest challenge—

and biggest opportunity—has been the ever-changing landscape of sports and events. Everyone is looking to do something

new and special, and it's a matter of keeping up with the trends in order to stay relevant.

The most rewarding aspect to me has been the opportunity to think outside the box and bring some unique events to an NFL stadium, like the Summer X Games, the NCAA Wrestling National Championships and American Ninja Warrior, which has opened up these events to new destinations and audiences.”

Emily Dunham: “It was challenging to join the Nationals’ management team without any experience in the sports industry and very few relationships to rely on. Now that I have been with the Nationals three years, the relationships I have built—both within the Nationals organization and across the sports industry—have been extremely helpful and rewarding.”

Lauren Cochran: “The most challenging

thing about working in the sports industry is also the most rewarding: As marketers, we cannot control the product on the court or field. Just like athletes prep for a season or a game, we do, too. We need to be prepared to capitalize on all the highs and ride out the lows. Being prepared and agile and finding success in that is what makes those wins that much more rewarding.”

What does the future of the sports industry look like to you?

Karen Liu: “I see sports leagues becoming more global. I think technology will play a big factor and evolve more quickly as time goes on. It will likely affect all aspects of sports, from media consumption, to e-sports, to player health and wellness. The common theme will be how to bring the sport closer to the fans and increase engagement. It’s an exciting time to be part of the sports industry, as you can see changes happening in real time.”

Erin LeBar: “Looking through the lens of

corporate partnerships, I see an even greater push towards authentic brand integration within content and experiential assets overall. The days of simple logo placements are long gone—we need to continue to find measurable attribution for our partners and provide them greater access to our properties and teams to validate the investment levels we’re seeking.”

Emily Dunham: “I am very interested to see what changes sports betting brings to the U.S. sports industry in the next decade. It has the potential to impact the fan experience in significant ways.”

Lauren Cochran: “It’s been amazing to

Maggie Wu: “Just like every industry, the

sports industry is demanding, high-pressure, emotional and also highly competitive. It’s most rewarding when you witness the power of sports to transform someone’s life, and I have had the chance to see this many times in my career. That’s the moment you know it’s more than a job.”

“I see sports leagues becoming more global. I think technology will play a big factor and evolve more quickly as time goes on…

It’s an exciting time to be part of the sports industry, as you can see changes happening in real time.” —Karen Liu

see the evolution of sports before my eyes. Technology is changing the way we experience sports and is also changing the rules of the game itself. Sports leagues and teams will have to remain agile to keep up with the behaviors and expectations of our fans and customers. Oftentimes, our opportunities to bring the game closer to our fans will present themselves outside of the sports industry. But it truly is an exciting time to help shape what that future will look like from a team perspective.”GWSB

business.gwu.edu | 33

GWSB ALUMNI PROFILES

DAVID BURT BBA ’01, MS ’03

PREMIER OF BERMUDA, ON LIFE, LUCK AND GW By Melissa Nyman David Burt has always believed that “in life, you make your own luck.” Having been elected premier of Bermuda in July 2017— as the youngest person ever to do so—he speaks from experience.

Premier Burt returned to Foggy Bottom last spring as the keynote speaker for the GW School of Business master’s and doctoral programs celebration. He stayed connected to GW since moving back to Bermuda in 2003. As a high school student deciding where to attend college, however, he chose GW sight unseen.

Premier Burt, who grew up in Bermuda before moving to the U.S. at age 11 to attend Florida Air Academy, knew that he wanted to go to school in D.C. He applied to GW without visiting campus.

“I remember getting the admittance packet that said, ‘Something Happens Here,’” Premier Burt explains. “I was hooked.”

In 1996, during his freshman year, he worked for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. He soon became involved in student government at GW, eventually serving as student association president during his senior year. While politics fit his outgoing personality, he wanted something different for his studies. He found his way to the business school after a chance encounter at Lisner Auditorium.

“There was a free screening of Jerry Maguire,” Premier Burt recalls with a laugh, “and I changed my major to sport management.”

34 | GWSB Spring 2019

It was this twist of fate that brought Premier Burt to GWSB. He eventually double majored in finance and information systems and went on to earn his master’s in the latter. During this time, technology and creative problem solving became his passions.

While at GW, he and two friends started a small information technology company, building websites and similar projects. After finishing a master’s degree in 2003, Premier Burt was eager to live and work in his home country.

His first real opportunity came in the form of an interview with Bermuda’s Transportation Control Department, via the government IT office. “This is where fate comes in,” he says. “The interview process was like an oral exam for my capstone class in my master’s program, so I hit the interview out of the park and got hired.”

Premier Burt set to work transferring the department’s systems to an online platform, making the process of scheduling appointments infinitely easier for Bermuda residents. In 2004, he founded his own firm, Consulting Limited, and took on additional work with the government, and eventually the private sector, including building the mobile app Hitch–Bermuda’s version of Uber.

“Being an entrepreneur, you are always working for yourself, and that’s the challenge – it belongs to you,” he says. “It’s also the most rewarding thing because you get to see the results of your work.”

Although Premier Burt is now serving his country outside the realm of business, he still applies these lessons to his work as premier.

“The skillsets I gained at GW— particularly within my major—absolutely translate to what I’m doing now. Information systems design requires you to deconstruct problems to their core elements. My approach is that there’s solution A and solution B—let’s find solution C. That comes from my training … and I think that that’s an excellent, transferable skill into the world of public service, into the world of government—wherever there are problems that confront you.”

If you ask Premier Burt for advice on navigating a career, he will tell you that whatever one’s interests, it’s “always a question of the path you choose to take.”

He stresses the importance of valuing real relationships and taking the time to have an unplanned conversation.

“When I say that you make your own luck, the only way you can do that is to work hard and really try,” he says Premier Burt initially chose GW based on a hunch. Today, he considers that choice to be an important part of his own path and self-made luck.

“The experience here was amazing, and it helped to strengthen my world view – whether it was the students I met, the people from around the world, the activities—[GW] has literally shaped my entire life.”

WHEN GEORGE TALKS, PEOPLE LISTEN…

George Talks Business, a series of 30-minute moderated interviews with notable GWSB alumni and respected thought leaders from the business, government and nonprofit arenas, featured an exceptional lineup of guests during the spring 2019 semester, drawing large audiences on campus and online.

The sessions were webcast live on GWSB’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. You can view the archived sessions at: https://business.gwu.edu/ george-talks-business George Talks Business will be back with an all-new lineup in fall 2019.

Spring 2019 George Talks Business Guests Thomas LeBlanc, president, The George Washington University Dave Zilko, CEO, Fuel Leadership; founder and former vice chairman, Garden Fresh Gourmet Dan Simons, founder and co-owner, Farmers Restaurant Donna Hoffman, Louis Rosenfeld Distinguished Scholar and professor of marketing, GWSB Frank Sesno, director of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs Garbriel Galvan, MBA ’10, executive director of the MITRE Corporation Tony Saldanha, president, Transformant Manoj Saxena, executive chairman, Cognitive Scale Doug Zarkin, BBA ’92, vice president and chief marketing officer, Pearle Vision Luxottica Jon Miller, Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster Kristalina Georgieva, interim president of the World Bank Group and chief executive officer of the World Bank

Romero Britto, Brazilian-born international artist Christine Lagarde, managing director and chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund business.gwu.edu | 35

Undergraduate Student Organizations: ALL BUSINESS

By Dan Michaelis

“ GWSB’s undergraduate business organizations are dedicated to building leadership skills and connections for students to alumni and prospective employers,” Leo Moersen, associate dean for undergraduate programs, said. “These organizations form the basis of a community for students and give them the opportunity to learn more about their chosen professions and industries.”

36 | GWSB Spring 2019

business.gwu.edu | 37

I

n the popular imagination, collegiate clubs and organizations—especially at the undergraduate level—are usually viewed as somewhat frivolous in nature. Sure, there may be the occasional charity carwash or other fundraising or community service projects, but for the most part, say “student organizations” to most people and they will think of sharedinterest clubs or fraternities that exist primarily for organizing social gatherings and parties.

At the George Washington University School of Business, nothing could be further from the truth.

“GWSB’s undergraduate business organizations are dedicated to building leadership skills and connections for students to alumni and prospective employers,” Leo Moersen, associate dean for undergraduate programs, said. “These organizations form the basis of a community for students and give them the opportunity to learn more about their chosen professions and industries.”

According to Kelsey Roman, program associate for student leadership and engagement in the Office of Undergraduate Programs and Advising, the organizations create “a bridging experience from classroom to career” for their members.

The more than two-dozen undergraduate business organizations at GWSB represent a diverse range of interests and are characterized by a remarkably high level of student participation. Working with the guidance and support of faculty—in particular, the Office of Undergraduate Programs and Advising—the organizations constitute a key component of the GWSB educational experience.

“Our commitment to working closely with student organizations distinguishes us from other schools,” Dean Moersen said.

Working with the guidance and support of faculty … the organizations constitute a key component of the GWSB educational experience.

For the 2018-19 academic year, there were 25 student organizations operating as affiliates of the umbrella organization, the Undergraduate Business Association (UBA).

The clubs include chapters of co-curricular national business fraternities, clubs focused on specific industries or professions, clubs for different ethnic, religious or identity

38 | GWSB Spring 2019

usually rivals,” Dean Moersen said. “Here at GW, they cooperate with each other.”

“ It’s about building a community across campus … I’ve seen an exponential growth in collaboration.”

— Kelsey Roman

The undergraduate organizations take an active part in putting together and managing on-campus events at GWSB. Here are a few examples from this past academic year: •T en student organizations, led by the GWSB chapters of the national business fraternities Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi, hosted 400 of their classmates for the third annual “Ready, Set, Grow!” career conference.

The student-organized and run event featured representatives from 35 leading companies, including 11 recruiters offering internship and job opportunities. The program featured panel presentations on different industry sectors and occupational specialties, including accounting, consulting, data analytics, economics and development, finance, law and public policy, marketing and sports, and events and hospitality.

(top to bottom): GWSB chapters of the national business fraternities Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi hosted the third annual “Ready, Set, Grow!” career conference; the GW Sports Business Association helped organize the 17th annual Sports Industry Networking and Career Conference (SINC) event; and the GWSB Undergraduate Business Associate lent its support in promoting the new “George Talks Business” interview series.

groups, and Lemonade-DC, the local chapter of the national organization devoted to introducing basic business concepts to elementary school children by helping them set up and run lemonade stands.

Despite their business orientation, UBAaffiliate organizations are open to students from throughout the George Washington University. “It’s about building a community across campus,” Ms. Roman said. And it is working. “I’ve seen an exponential growth in collaboration,” she added.

The spirit of community among UBA affiliates has even had an effect in overcoming longstanding differences.

“The two national business fraternities are

•T he GW Sports Business Association played a major role in organizing and hosting both GWSB’s 17th annual Sports Industry Networking & Career (SINC) Conference and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance’s (SIGA) event, “Female Leadership in Sport: Making It Happen.”

The SIGA and SINC events afforded students the opportunity to hear from and network with sports industry professionals, including representatives from professional, amateur and collegiate teams and leagues, advertisers, sports media outlets and equipment manufacturers.

•T he GWSB Undergraduate Business Association has lent its support to “George Talks Business,” a series of 30-minute moderated interviews with notable alumni and respected thought leaders from the business, government and nonprofit arenas. The UGA has provided invaluable assistance in promoting and raising awareness of the series and driving student attendance at sessions.

In addition to functioning as a vital extension of their classroom education, GWSB’s student organizations also perform

an important social function. Members form longstanding friendships—and business networks that can play a critical role in career success. Maintaining ties with undergraduate organization alumni strengthens those networks.

Alumni involvement also helps promote “organizational sustainability,” according to Ms. Roman. “We help keep track of members after they graduate so they can stay involved,” she said. “We try to instill in the students that they are participating in these organizations for life.” In this way, former members’ close post-graduation ties to the school and current members of student business organizations help to fulfill GWSB’s commitment to lifelong learning.

“ We help keep track of members after

they graduate so they can stay involved … to fulfill GWSB’s commitment to lifelong learning.”

GWSB Undergraduate Business Association (UBA) The Undergraduate Business Association is an intermediary body that unites all constituents of the GWSB community. The UBA is comprised of an executive board of undergraduate students along with project assistants who work to fulfill the goals of the organization Our mission is to empower both our affiliate organizations and students to achieve their goals, and enhance their GWSB experience academically, socially and professionally. The UBA advocates for the needs of and interests of students with GWSB; develops programs and initiatives to support the needs of the GWSB community; and acts as a liaison between the student body and offices within GWSB.

— Kelsey Roman

Collectively, the undergraduate student organizations at the School of Business represent an active, productive component of the GWSB community. Their level of participation in educational, co- and extracurricular endeavors truly sets them apart from similar associations and clubs at other schools. GWSB

NOTE: Leo Moersen is stepping down as associate dean for undergraduate programs at the end of the 2018-19 academic year. GWBusiness thanks him for his service to the School of Business and wishes him every success in the future.

GWSB Undergraduate Organizations Undergraduate Business Association Alpha Kappa Psi American Marketing Association Ascend Beta Alpha Psi Black Business League Capitol Advertising Commercial Real Estate Network Corean Undergraduate Business Organization Delta Sigma Pi Finance and Investments Club GW Data

GW Fashion & Business Association GW Women in Business GW Socially Responsible Investment Fund GW Sports Business Association GW Undergraduate International Business Association Out & About The LaunchPad Lemonade Day DC Multicultural Business Student Association TAMID at GW Undergraduate Consulting Group Women in Finance Alliance

Here are some of the posters of the undergraduate organizations at GWSB.

business.gwu.edu | 39

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Alumni EXPERIENCE 55,000+ GWSB Alumni CONNECT

Stay in touch with your classmates, faculty, and the school by updating your contact information, attending events, and sharing personal news via our GWSB Alumni Class Notes.

CONTRIBUTE

Looking to engage with fellow GWSB alumni or support current students? There are a variety of ways you can volunteer and invest in creating a more powerful GWSB network.

CHAMPION

Proactively advocate for GWSB in your community, in your company, and in your everyday conversations. Alumni champions take action to elevate GWSB.

Your GWSB degree gives you exclusive access to resources provided by the F. David Fowler Career Center.

All GW alumni receive a host of exclusive discounts both near and far from campus. alumni.gwu.edu/benefits-services

For more information: GWSB Alumni Relations | 202-994-8157 | go.gwu.edu/gwsbalumni GW School of 2019 Business 40 | GWSB Spring

@GWSBalumni

gwsbalumni

The George Washington University School of Business

School of Business Office of the Dean Duquès Hall, Suite 660 Washington, D.C. 20052

Participate in the 2019 GW Legacy Challenge and give 110% to GW!

Visit go.gwu.edu/give110GWSB to learn more.

CALL: (877) 498-7590 EMAIL: pgiving1@gwu.edu

4 | GWSB Spring 2019

MITCH BLASER, BBA ’73 Chair, GWSB Board of Advisors

“As a GWSB stakeholder, I have a keen interest in growing the endowment to help drive the school’s resources and rankings. My planned gift will assist the GWSB Fowler Career Center to help our students and provide more opportunities to hire a GW student today!”

DAR3550

The 2019 GW Legacy Challenge provides an immediate cash match for donors who document new or increased planned gift commitments to the School of Business, such as gifts by will, trust, or IRA beneficiary designation. As a planned giving donor, you can direct matching funds to your area of interest (equal to 10% of the value of your planned gift, up to $10,000).