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Inverted yields and a potential recession – are rocky times ahead?
Everything seemed to be going swell. Unemployment was low, the number of jobs was high and the economy seemed to be roaring. Until last week. Yields on two-year and 10-year Treasury notes inverted early Wednesday, a market phenomenon that shows investors want more in return for short-term government bonds than they are for long-term bonds. It's the first time that has happened since the Great Recession and it can be an indication that investors have lost faith in the soundness of the U.S. economy. - USA Today, Aug. 14, 2019 Inversions are usually the canary in the coal mine when it comes to recessions. In fact, this very same incident has occurred in the previous nine recessions since the mid-1950s. How bad will this recession be? Is there any way to reverse course? Is this simply an American issue or will it spread globally? Compared to 2008 – how bad of a situation are we in? There is a lot of speculation and questions being asked. If you are a reporter covering the economy and need an expert to help guide you through the situation and provide accurate information on the state of America’s economy – that’s where we can help. Dr. Simon Medcalfe is a highly regarded finance expert and the Cree Walker Chair in the Hull College of Business at Augusta University. Medcalfe is available to speak with media regarding the economy and its outlook – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Key Environmental Quality Research Questions Identified for North America by Multidisciplinary Team
As density in cities increase along with other global megatrends, researchers are working to address environment and health challenges in collaborative ways. Using a recently pioneered process, a multidisciplinary team of North American researchers, government agencies and businesses leaders identified priority research questions for the United States, Canada and Mexico in an effort to tackle pressing environmental quality issues. In an article published in the journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Bryan W. Brooks, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science and Biomedical Studies and director of the environmental health science program at Baylor University, led the Global Horizon Scanning Project (GHSP), which focuses on identifying environmental and health issues internationally. Brooks also facilitated GHSP workshops in Africa, Australia, Central and Southeastern Asia, Europe and Latin America. “We face palpable global environment and health challenges, which require innovative understanding, tools, products and systems to prevent, diagnose and manage adverse outcomes to public health and the environment,” Brooks said. “The GHSP was initiated as part of a larger effort to identify important international research needs. It is essentially a research roadmap towards achieving more sustainable environmental quality, which is necessary to protect human health, biodiversity and ecosystem services.” As part of the study, members of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry’s (SETAC) and the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Environmental Chemistry and Agrochemcials Divisions submitted questions that were then synthesized during a workshop by scientists and engineers from the academic, government and business sectors. “This project is intentionally inclusive, bottom-up, multidisciplinary, multisector and transparent,” Brooks said. “Answering these priority research questions will not be easy, but strategically doing so promises to accelerate progress to address grand challenges that matter to everyone.” “This report provides a comprehensive global perspective covering some of the world’s most critical environmental challenges that will impact society for decades to come,” said Sherine Obare, Ph.D., dean and professor of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at UNC Greensboro and chair elect of the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Chemistry Division. “SETAC’s ability to engage scientists from around the globe has led to forums that identify urgent challenges including, next generation 21st century analytical chemistry methods, strategies to predict chemical exposure, understanding multiple stressors and new approaches in chemical risk assessment. This project will define the scientific directions needed to transform environmental science and engineering, globally.” “The GHSP reflected in this paper has harnessed the insights of scientists not only across North America but around the world,” said Charles Menzie, Ph.D., Global Executive Director of SETAC. “Each brings tremendous experience and a strong sense of what is needed for future research. However, the distillation of these many into a set of consensus questions provides a much needed foundation for charting our direction for research to inform environmental policy. SETAC is proud to have supported this through our global meetings and now through our journal.” A related GHSP manuscript identifying priority environmental quality questions for the Australasiaregion of Oceania was also recently published in Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. GHSP efforts from Africa and Asia are ongoing with plans to report priority research questions from these global regions in the next year. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s oldest and largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments and seven academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines.
The Spencer Foundation recently awarded Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work a $50,000 grant to study if and how accredited Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) programs incorporate curricula around religion and spirituality (RS) into social work education as well as assessing faculty views around the topic and how universities’ religious affiliations impact M.S.W. education. The School of Social Work’s Edward C. Polson, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Holly Oxhandler, Ph.D., assistant professor and associate dean for research and faculty development, are co-principal investigators for the study, “Graduate Social Work Faculty Views on Preparing Students to Ethically Integrate Clients’ Religion/Spirituality in Practice: A National Survey.” As of spring 2019, there were 290 M.S.W. programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), but little is known about how or if RS content is delivered within these colleges and universities. “Given that social workers provide the largest proportion of mental healthcare services in the U.S. [according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration], and clients have expressed a preference for integrating their RS in previous research, this is especially important to consider,” Oxhandler said. “In addition, no study has examined the potential impact religiously-affiliated colleges or universities have on M.S.W. education, including preparing students to ethically integrate clients' RS.” The research team, which will include a graduate assistant from the School of Social Work, will survey the approximately 5,000 full-time faculty across all of the CSWE-accredited M.S.W. programs to answer three questions: 1) How do M.S.W. programs prepare students to ethically integrate clients' RS in practice (if at all)? 2) What are M.S.W. faculty members' views and behaviors related to educating students on RS in social work? 3) In what ways, if any, do colleges' /universities' religious affiliation impact training on CSWE competencies in M.S.W. programs? Over the last few decades, research has shown a growing awareness that RS plays an important role in Americans' lives and the ethical integration of clients' RS in mental health treatment often contributes to positive outcomes. A previous study by Oxhandler revealed social workers held overwhelmingly positive attitudes toward integrating RS into treatment, but few were engaged in the practice. The study indicated only two practitioner characteristics that could predict their orientation toward integrating clients' RS into treatment: intrinsic religiosity (degree to which practitioners are internally motivated by RS) and prior training. This lack of training was reflected through surveys showing only 13 percent of social workers had taken a course in their M.S.W. program. Further, in another study by Oxhandler and Baylor alumna, Kelsey Moffatt, the team found a mere 78 of 257 programs mentioned a course on RS on their school websites in 2018. “We look forward to learning more about how M.S.W. faculty across the US integrate religion and spirituality content into their M.S.W. curricula as an element of clients’ culture and coping skills,” Oxhandler said. “Recognizing that clients tend to prefer their therapist assess and discuss the client’s spirituality as it relates to treatment, coupled with the fact that very few mental health care providers are trained in this area, we saw a need to better understand what's happening within M.S.W. programs.” The Spencer Foundation has been funding education research since 1971 and is the only national foundation focused exclusively on supporting education research. Their Small Research Grants on Education program supports research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, and their goal is “to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research.” “I am truly grateful for the Spencer Foundation’s support for Dr. Polson and I to carry out this exciting project,” Oxhandler said. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT THE DIANA R. GARLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work is home to one of the leading graduate social work programs in the nation with a research agenda focused on the integration of faith and practice. Upholding its mission of preparing social workers in a Christian context for worldwide service and leadership, the School offers a baccalaureate degree (B.S.W.);a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree available on the Waco or Houston campuses or online; three joint-degree options, M.S.W./M.B.A., M.S.W./M.Div. and M.S.W./M.T.S., through a partnership with Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business and George W. Truett Theological Seminary; and an online Ph.D. program. Visit www.baylor.edu/social_workto learn more.
The Gun Control Debate is at a Stalemate. Can Smarter Weapons Help to Solve it?
The gun control debate is at a stalemate. America seems incapable of finding common ground on background checks, waiting periods, weapons registries and restrictions or bans on select weapons. Shooting after shooting has resulted in decades of debate but little substantive change. But Professor Selmer Bringsjord from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who recently weighed in on the issue, presented a concept that could turn the entire topic on its head by using artificial intelligence. Bringsjord accepts that America won’t get rid of its guns – so why not just make our guns smarter? Ethically AI-enabled weapons can put American politicians back to work by shifting the debate from the weapons we should ban, to the targets we will accept. Do we allow guns to kill school children, shoppers, concert-goers? The technology of ethical AI changes the conversation. His idea was just recently published in the Times Union: “Yet there is a solution, a technological alternative to the fruitless shouting match between politicians: namely, AI — of an ethical sort. Guns that are at once intelligent and ethically correct can put an end to the mass-shooting carnage. Consider the rifle apparently used by the human killer in the El Paso Walmart shooting. But now suppose that time is turned back to before his shots were fired on Aug. 3, and that his rifle, radically unlike the stupid one that killed, is both intelligent and ethical. This alternate-future rifle would know that it's approaching the Walmart by car and would accordingly know that it has no business being used anytime soon. Move forward in time a bit; the rifle is now in the hands of the aspiring, ear-muffed killer outside his car; but his weapon has fully disengaged itself and is locked into a mode of utter uselessness with the finality of a sealed bank vault. On the other hand, the guns in the hands of law enforcement officers who have dashed on scene know in whose hands they rest, and accordingly know that if they are trained on the would-be killer, they have every right to work well, if this criminal reveals some new threat. Notice: If people who don't actually pose a threat sufficient to warrant being shot by police can't be shot by smart, ethical guns, a fact that could lead to the welcome evaporation of a different but also vitriolic political shouting match.” -Times Union, August 16, 2019 Could AI be the answer to America’s gun problem? It’s truly a new perspective on an old issue. If you are a reporter covering this topic, let our experts help with your story. Dr. Selmer Bringsjord is the Chair of the Department of Cognitive Science expert in logic and philosophy, specializing in AI and reasoning. Dr. Bringsjord regularly speaks with media about AI and is available to speak about the concept of intelligent, ethical guns. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Are Germany’s economic walls crumbling? Let our experts explain the potential consequences.
As the saying goes … where there’s smoke, there is usually fire. And as trade wars, Brexit and overall global uncertainty crash like waves across the planet – there might be another sure sign we are headed for a global economic slowdown. Germany, the engine that runs Europe, may very well be in recession. “A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and Germany saw a 0.1% drop in the April-to-June period. In its monthly report, the Bundesbank said that with falling industrial production and orders, it appears the slump is continuing during the July-to-September quarter. “The overall economic performance could decline slightly once again,” it said. “Central to this is the ongoing downturn in industry.” Deutsche Bank went further Monday, saying “we see Germany in a technical recession” and predicting a 0.25% drop in economic output this quarter.” August 20 – Associated Press So, what will this mean for the EU, and economies far and wide? Do Americans need to be concerned? Is this just a stumble or is the world about to fall into another economic collapse? If you are a reporter covering the economy and need an expert for your stories – let us help. Jeff Haymond, Ph.D. is Dean, School of Business Administration and a Professor of Economics at Cedarville and is an expert in finance and trade. Dr. Haymond is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
The World Needs More MBAs! Let an expert from WGU explain how partnerships can make it work.
Recently, much talk has centered on the closing of business school programs, and the extreme debt that many students take on to achieve a business degree. New data from Bloomberg Businessweek reported that nearly half of students polled from 126 universities across the world finance $100,000 or more for their MBAs. “Bloomberg Businessweek surveyed more than 10,000 2018 graduates of MBA programs from 126 schools about the amount of debt they piled on earning their degrees. The survey found that almost half of students at leading business schools around the world borrowed at least $100,000 to finance their MBA. According to the survey, at minimum 40% of MBA graduates from U.S. News & World Report’s top-ranking business programs — those at Duke, Dartmouth, University of Michigan, Cornell and University of Chicago — reported incurring at least $100,000 in debt.” July 09 – CNBC MBAs have been widely accepted by employers, and the return on investment for students has historically been high. Over the years, business programs have adapted to the needs of employers, and the basic design of the MBA, combining a broad scope of valuable business skills, has remained relevant despite massive changes in the business world. But with the rise of tuition costs, rapid changes in technology, and a higher value being placed on specialization, the long-standing value proposition of the MBA is changing. Cost, flexibility of delivery and open-loop, customized micro-learning are more likely to meet the needs of students and employers going forward. At WGU, we live and breathe the mission of supporting student academic success and expanding opportunities with affordable, valuable and relevant degree programs. Collaborations with companies which are equally committed to provide their employees the opportunity to sharpen their skills, advance in their careers, and better their lives, are one step in this evolution of business education. An evolution not in the future, it’s here. Dr. Rashmi Prasad is Dean and Academic Vice President of Western Governors University's College of Business. Dr. Prasad is available to speak with media regarding the need for higher education and how partnerships will bolster MBA programs and help graduates find success after they leave school – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
It was a train running full speed and showed no signs of stopping – but America’s economy hit a bump last week and it sent a lot of people from Wall Street and beyond into a panic. The 800-point drop in the Dow Jones seemed to be the first sign of another severe recession. But before everyone cashes out, experts from Western Governors University are hoping we take a look back through the ages before rushing to worry. “What does history teach us? Even before the Great Depression of the 1930s, Nicolai Kondratieff discovered that the capitalist economy, going back to the 18th century was characterized by waves, or business cycles,” says Dr. Rashmi Prasad, Dean and Academic Vice President of Western Governors University's College of Business. “The Federal Reserve, under leadership of Ben Bernanke, claimed that while the business cycle had not been repealed, a ‘Great Moderation’ had emerged in the world post-1982. Independent central banking and the rise of the service economy were among the reasons cited. In a great irony of history, Bernanke was front and center as Chairman of the Federal Reserve during the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008-2009. Business cycles seem to be inevitable for capitalist economies. Will we return to the Great Moderation of 1982-2007, or are we in a new period of regular Great Recessions? Central Banks stabilize and soften the down-cycles of recessions, but the price of managing the Great Recession of 2008-09 has been the dramatic expansion of central bank balance sheets–no new investment cycles–property or finance often leads to recession.” So, where do we stand and what can we expect in the short-term? Prasad adds this perspective: “Conventional economic thinking indicated inflation by now, which may have added to interest rates and constrained the amount of debt that was sustainable. Rapidly rising interest rates posed the risk of a deep and extended downturn. If interest rates can be managed and kept low, then the next down-cycle could be shallowed and prolonged as monetary policy has little scope and fiscal deficits are already very high. Risks for a major downturn exist in extremely high debt levels and central bank balance sheets, but still may be a decade or two away, awaiting triggers that we cannot yet predict.” Are you a journalist covering the economy and do you need expert perspective and opinion for your stories? That’s where Western Governor’s University can help. Dr. Rashmi Prasad is Dean and Academic Vice President of Western Governors University's College of Business. He is an expert in the fields of economic and financial data and business analytics. Dr. Prasad is available to speak with media regarding the state of America’s economy – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Buying local? Higher price means higher quality in consumers' minds
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Why are we willing to pay much more for a six pack of craft beer, a locally produced bottle of wine or a regional brand item, often choosing them over national brands? It's because when people prefer to "buy local," they more frequently base their decisions on price as a perception of quality, according to research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and three other universities. The study, published in the Journal of Marketing, suggests that marketers can use this understanding of local identity versus global identity to shape consumers' price perceptions and behavior. "Consumers tend to use price to judge a product's quality when their local identity is most important to them," said Ashok Lalwani, associate professor of marketing at Kelley. "When promoting high-priced or branded products, marketers can situationally activate consumers' local identity. To accomplish this objective, businesses can encourage consumers to 'think local' or employ local cultural symbols in advertising and other promotional material. The researchers also suggested that the opposite was true for low-price products. "Discount stores, such as dollar stores, should discourage consumers from using the price of a product to infer its quality," Lalwani said. "They would be better served by temporarily making consumers' global identity more prominent. Cues in advertisements that focus on a product's global appeal would help achieve that goal." Many companies find it difficult to set and increase prices in the digital marketplace because of the pricing transparency of the internet, consumers' deal-seeking attitudes and global product availability. For their study, Lalwani and his colleagues conducted in-depth interviews, two field studies and seven experiments, and reviewed secondary data. In their interviews with 15 senior-level managers from Fortune 500 companies, they found that while the executives considered local or global communities in their pricing decisions, none knew when such strategies were effective or why. For example, an executive at a snack food maker told them, "It is important to have a reasonably high price since it communicated 'premium-ness' and then reinforce it with advertising and packaging. But we don't know for sure why such consumers prefer premium brands." A pet products manager said, "In dog sweaters, it is difficult to judge quality, so I am sure that my pet parents use price, in addition to other factors, to choose." Through the field studies, experiments and secondary data, the researchers found that when consumers choose to identify more with others around them, they perceive greater variance among brands, which increases their reliance on price as a cue to judge quality. Past research has found that consumers from more globalized countries and communities, such as the United States and its larger cities, often have a stronger global mindset because they interact with many types of people and cultures and hear news from abroad. In contrast, those living in smaller population areas or from isolated or insular nations often have a stronger local identity because they have less access to other cultures. This paper provides useful guidelines for firms to adapt strategies for different regions and address whether companies should be more locally or globally oriented. "For products to be marketed to the places where people tend to have a more local identity (such as rural areas), local flavors and ingredients can be used in the products. As these consumers are more likely to make price-quality associations, marketers may not need to allocate much ad budget to convince consumers about price-quality associations," Lalwani and his co-authors wrote. The opposite is true as well, according to the authors, indicating that in more metropolitan areas, consumers most often don't have an established connection between price and quality. For marketers, this means that putting additional effort into differentiating their brand will help consumers associate a higher price with higher quality. Lalwani is in the process of reviewing results of a large-scale national survey of the U.S. that measures which states tend to have more of a local identity versus a global one, for a follow-up study. His co-authors on the paper, "How Does Consumers' Local or Global Identity Influence Price-Perceived Quality Associations? The Role of Perceived Quality Variance," are Zhiyong Yang of the University of North Carolina, Sijie Sun of the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Narayan Janakiraman of the University of Texas at Arlington.
‘Bottom-line mentality’ can lead to loss of employee respect and loyalty, research shows Supervisors driven by profits could actually be hurting their coveted bottom lines by losing the respect of their employees, who counter by withholding performance, according to a new study led by Baylor University. The study, “The Influence of Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Employee Bottom-Line Mentality on Leader-Member Exchange and Subsequent Employee Performance,” is published in the journal Human Relations. “Supervisors who focus only on profits to the exclusion of caring about other important outcomes, such as employee well-being or environmental or ethical concerns, turn out to be detrimental to employees,” said lead researcher Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. “This results in relationships that are marked by distrust, dissatisfaction and lack of affection for the supervisor. And ultimately, that leads to employees who are less likely to complete tasks at a high level and less likely to go above and beyond the call of duty.” While other studies have examined the impact of bottom-line mentality (BLM) on employee behavior, Quade said this is the first to identify why employees respond with negative behaviors to supervisors they perceive to have BLM. The research team surveyed 866 people. Half of those surveyed were supervisors; the other half were their respective employees. Data was collected from those who work in a range of jobs and industries, including financial services, health care, sales, legal and education. Researchers measured supervisor BLM, employee BLM, task performance and leader-member exchange – the rating employees gave of their relationships with their supervisors. Employees rated their supervisors’ BLM by scoring on a scale statements like: “My supervisor treats the bottom line as more important than anything else” and “My supervisor cares more about profits than his/her employees’ well-being.” They rated leader-member exchange via statements such as “I like my supervisor very much as a person” and “My relationship with my supervisor is composed of comparable exchanges of giving and taking.” Supervisors rated their employees by scoring statements such as: “This employee meets or exceeds his/her productivity requirements,” “This employee searches for ways to be more productive” and “This employee demonstrates commitment to producing quality work.” Based on the responses and the data collected and analyzed, the researchers found: High-BLM supervisors create low-quality relationships with their employees. In turn, employees perceive low-quality leader-member exchange relationships. Thus, employees reciprocate by withholding performance. When supervisor BLM is high and employee BLM is low, the damaging effects are strengthened. When both supervisor and employee BLM are high, the negative performance is still evident. The last finding on that list was particularly significant, Quade said, because it contradicts a common belief that when two parties (in this case, supervisors and employees) think alike and have similar values, there will be a positive outcome. Not so much in the case of BLM, the study shows. “When supervisor and employee BLM is similarly high, our research demonstrates the negative effect on performance is only buffered, not mitigated – indicating no degree of supervisor BLM seems to be particularly beneficial,” the researchers wrote. “It seems even if employees maintain a BLM, they would prefer for their managers to focus on interpersonal aspects of the job that foster healthier social exchange relationships with their employees in addition to the bottom line.” The profit-performance relationship can spark a conundrum for companies, Quade said, because organizations want to be profitable, and performance is an important indicator of an organization’s health and vitality. If leaders believe a negative dynamic regarding BLM exists in their organization, the researchers suggest a few practical steps: Be cautious of a BLM approach or emphasizing bottom-line outcomes that could neglect other organizational concerns, such as employee well-being and ethical standards. Managers should be aware of the message they pass along to employees (and the possible performance repercussions) when they tout bottom-line profits as the most important consideration. Organizations that need to emphasize bottom-line outcomes should consider pairing the BLM management style with other management approaches known to produce positive results, such as practicing ethical leadership. “Supervisors undoubtedly face heavy scrutiny for the performance levels of their employees, and as such they may tend to emphasize the need for employees to pursue bottom-line outcomes at the exclusion of other competing priorities, such as ethical practices, personal development or building social connections in the workplace,” the researchers wrote. “However, in doing so they may have to suffer the consequence of reduced employee respect, loyalty and even liking.” ABOUT THE STUDY “The Influence of Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Employee Bottom-Line Mentality on Leader-Member Exchange and Subsequent Employee Performance” is published in the journal Human Relations. Authors are Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business; Benjamin McLarty, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Mississippi State University; and Julena Bonner, Ph.D., assistant professor, Utah State University. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY At Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, integrity stands shoulder-to-shoulder with analytic and strategic strengths. The School’s top-ranked programs combine rigorous classroom learning, hands on experience in the real world, a solid foundation in Christian values and a global outlook. Making up approximately 25 percent of the University’s total enrollment, undergraduate students choose from 16 major areas of study. Graduate students choose from full-time, executive or online MBA or other specialized master’s programs, and Ph.D. programs in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship or Health Services Research. The Business School also has campuses located in Austin and Dallas, Texas. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.” - Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO I would add the following to Mr. Brown’s statement. This innovation approach requires more than a designer’s toolkit. It requires multiple departments within an organization to engage in the approach. If I’ve learned one thing in my more than 5 years in higher education it’s that companies continue to push for employees to become better problem solvers, more creative/critical thinkers, and ultimately stronger communicators. Why? Company growth is critical, and the aforementioned skills are how many companies will achieve growth. At Otterbein, we continue to provide education that addresses the development of these skills. We are designing a new focus in the MBA Program; Design Thinking. Otterbein University’s MBA Program is collaborating with the Master of Design (MDes) Program at the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD), to integrate a Design Thinking Area of Focus within the MBA program. Design Thinking combines design research, service design, studio & project course for prototyping/impression/artifact work, along with design thinking principles critical in succeeding in business and industry. It is designed for individuals who wish to pursue a career in business design, organizational change, and innovation, among other potential career paths. Are you a reporter covering stories that involve Design Thinking? Are you a student considering pursuing Design Thinking as a postsecondary option? If so, let our experts help with any of your questions. Eric is Director of the MBA Program at Otterbein University and is available to speak to the concepts of Design Thinking. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
