School Notes: School of Management
July/August 2010

Yale SOM launches faculty research e-newsletter

SOM has launched an online Faculty Insights newsletter [http://mba.yale.edu/faculty/insights/] showcasing the intellectual capital of the school’s faculty. Each quarterly issue will include a selection of recent working papers, publications, research summaries, commentaries, and interviews. The first issue highlights the work of Gary Gorton, Frederick Frank Class of 1954 Professor of Management and Finance, who connects the financial crisis of late 2008 to other banking panics throughout history; an interview with Robert Shiller, Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, on how economists need to look beyond the classical view of individuals as rational actors; and an argument by K. Sudhir, professor of marketing, that organized retail in India can achieve long-term success by following the strategies of China and other Asian countries that recently modernized their retail sectors. To subscribe to Faculty Insights, send an e-mail to faculty.insights@som.yale.edu.

Dean Oster blogs for Forbes

Dean Sharon Oster has signed on as a regular contributor to Forbes.com’s new CSR Blog, which highlights corporate responsibility issues within companies worldwide. In her first post, she writes about how BP should respond to its oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and draws on research by Victoria Brescoll, assistant professor of organizational behavior, and postdoctoral associate George Newman. Using research both on business executives and on a random selection of adults, Brescoll et al. found that after the fact, firms that conveyed an empathetic, responsibility-taking message ended up losing much less public trust than those taking more defensive or noncommittal stances. Oster writes that such an approach might seem obvious to those observing a crisis from outside. “Yet looking at actual crisis situations, it is surprising how many company leaders fail to act on this insight,” she writes. Read this post, and others, at http://blogs.forbes.com/csr.

Inaugural Green Summit celebrates progress of last 40 years

The Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute and NYSE Euronext hosted the inaugural Green Summit at the New York Stock Exchange on April 22, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Leaders from business, government, and academic realms described the ways that environmental sustainability can be a means to drive the economy. The summit underscores NYSE Euronext’s commitment to creating thought leadership forums where executives can exchange innovative ideas and network. “We are celebrating how, 40 years later, economic development and environmental vitality can join forces. We are proud to showcase the profound tangible strides shared by a large portfolio of enterprises,” said senior associate dean Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Read about the Green Summit at qn.som.yale.edu/article.php?issue_id=12&article_id=279.